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THE 



Life of Michael Davitt. 



WITH A HISTORY OB" 



THE RISE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE 
IRISH NATIONAL LAND LEAGUE. 



BY D. B. CASHMAN. 



•• The nations have fallen, and thmi still art young, 
Thy sun i.? but rising ichen others are set ; 
And, though slanenfs cloud o''er thy morning hath Ming, 

The full noon of freedom shall beam round thee yet. 
Erin 1 oh, Erin ! though long in the shade, 
Thy star will shine out when the proudest shall fade." 

— Moo re. 

"^AUG 1 1881 



BOSTON: 



MUKPHT & McCarthy, PtlBLISHEESi^ 

648 Washington Street. 
1881. 



-,^c-. 



Or 



THE LIBRARY || 
or CONGRESS!' 

WASHINGTON I 



COPTRIGHT, 1881, 

Bt murphy & MCCARTHY, 



Printed by Duffy, Cashman St Co. 

603 Washington St., Boston. 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

Paobs 

A Brief History of British Tyranny in Ireland, from the Inva- 
sion in 1 1 70 to the Act of Union in 1 800, with an Account 
of the Penal Enactments in the Different Reigns. - - iii-xiv 



CHAPTER I. 

The Great Land Agitation. — Michael Davitt again in a 

Convict's Garb. — Innisfail ...... 1-5 



CHAPTER II. 

Michael Davitt. — His Early Life. — Eviction from his Farm 

Home in Mayo. — Emigration ..... 6-n 



CHAPTER in. 

Davitt as a Literary Man — His Arrest. — Trial, and Prison 

Sufferings --..----- 12-2S 



CHAPTER IV. 

From Millbank to Dartmoor, Six Years and Six Months of 
Agony ...i.----- 29-48 



CHAPTER V. 

Released on Ticket-of- Leave. — Grand Reception in Dublin. 
— Sergeant McCarthy's Death. — Davitt Visits Mayo. — 
His First Lecture in England ..... 49-66 
(3) 

/ 



IV CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Pages 

Davitt's First Visit to America. — Seed of the Land League 
Sown by Advanced Nationalists. — The New Doctrine Ex- 
pounded by Davitt. — A National Platform - - - 67-93 

CHAPTER Vn. 

Why the Farmers were not Fenians. — Radical Revolution- 
ists and the Land Question. — The New Departure Ex- 
pounded and Defended by John Devoy. — The Abolition 
of Landlordism ....--. 94-114 

CHAPTER VIIL 

How L-ish Tenant-Farmers are Ground Down by the Land- 
lords. — Why the Extremists should aid the Land Agita- 
tion. — The Law of Primogeniture explained. — The 
Ancient Irish Law of Gavel, — Statistics Relating to Land 
and Landlords ..---»- 1 15-131 

CHAPTER IX. 

Davitt's Return to Ireland. — The Agitation Begun in Mayo. 
— Death of Isaac Butt.— Pronouncements by the Catho- 
lic Clergy. — Famine Clouds Appear on the Horizon. — 
Archbishop MacHale Condemns the Leaders of the Agi- 
tation. — Michael Davitt's Reply ... - 13?-! 54 

CHAPTER X. 

The Landlords Refuse to Lower the Rents. — The Agitators 
demand the Abolition of Landlordism. — Repeal of the 
Irish Convention Act. — ^The First National Convention in 
Mayo to Form a Land League. — Appeal to Irish- 
Americans. — Manifesto from the Trustees of the Irish 
National Fund ----.-- 154-178 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XI. 



Paoks 



The Irish National Land League Formed in Dublin. — The 
Distress Increasing. — Irish Members Invoke Government 
Aid. — Davitt Arrested. — Lodged in Sligo Jail. — " On 
to Balla." — Committed for Trial — Parnell to Chicago. — 
Davitt's Lecture in England ----- 178-199 

CHAPTER XIL 

Parnell and Dillon in New York. — Great Meeting in Madi- 
son Square Garden.-^ Parnell addresses Congress. — The 
Famine in Ireland. — How the Landlords acted. — The 
Relief BilL — Meeting on the Spot where Davitt was born, 200-214 

CHAPTER XIIL 

The National Land League started in America. — Davitt 
again visits the United States. — First Land League Con- 
vention in New York. — America's Aid during the Fam- 
ine. — The Compensation for Disturbance Bill rejected. 
— Evictions. — Davitt in San Francisco. — The Ladies' 
Land League begun. — Davitt leaves for Ireland. — Boy- 
cotting Boycott. — The State Trials. — The Coercion Act 
in force -- -. 21 15-240 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Davitt Arrested. — Again in a Convict's Garb. — Portland 
Prison Described. — The Ticket-of-Leave. — The News in 
the House of Commons. — Expulsion of Thirty-four Mem- 
bers. — The National Land League Convention. — No 
Peace in Ireland while Davitt is in a Convict Cell - 241-256 



INTRODUCTION. 



A. Brief History of British Tyranny in Ireland, from 
THE Invasion in 1170 to the Act of Union in 1800, 
WITH AN Account of the Penal Enactments in the 
Different Keigns. 



"Who remember the past — the days gone by, 

Long wept in song and story; 
When the hunted priest to a cave should fly. 

Or some mountain hollow hoary ; 
When your sires' blood was the gibbets' dye, 

And their shame their tyrants' glory? 

" Who remember the past — the fearful past — 

Its deeds of blood and slaughter; 
When the rush of the midnight's moaning blast 

And sob of the surging water 
But echoed the dirge of your land downcast 

'Neath the wrongs the alien wrought her ? " 

— Merva. 

" Who remember the past — the fearful past ? '* 
asks the poet ! Who, bemg of Celtic birth or 
blood, or of auy race, that having read the dark 
pages of Ireland's history — a history of blood 
and tears — a history born of a monster from a 
nation's travail — can ever forget the past, or fail to 
discern the clank of the slave-chain which binds it 
to the present? That sad history of oppression 
is still being continued, unrepented of by the 
oppressor, and borne by the oppressed ; but not 

(3) 



IV INTRODUCTION". 

meekly borne — for the struggle for freedom by a 
brave people is vigorously continued ; and, by brute 
force alone, coupled with state-craft and treacli- 
ery, is England enabled to keep her knee upon 
Ireland's breast. 

Let us glance clown the centuries, and for a 
moment rest the eye of memory on a select few of 
the notable events in this history, since the land- 
ing of Eobert Fitz-Stephen, Meyler Fitz-Henry, 
and others, on the coast of Wexford, and of 
Stiguel Strongbow at Waterford in 1170, and 
we shall build up an arch of iniquity through 
which we can picture the generations of Anglo- 
Norman robbers passing on to eternity, to reap 
the rewards in that life that such a monument 
of their erection in this, justly entitle them. 

We shall take for the two corner-stones of this 
historic arch the following incidents from the six- 
teenth and seventeenth centuries. They are solid 
enough to bear the superstructure : In 1570, the 
English governor of the province of Connaught 
wrote as follows to her virgin majesty. Queen 
Elizabeth: "At Christmas I headed a military 
march through the country, and, finding that 
leniency was of no use, I resolved to destroy 
everything by fire and sword, sparing neither 
young nor old. I burnt their crops and houses, 
and put to the sword every human being that 
could be found : amongst others we have slain 
sixty of their most important leaders. Two of 



INTRODUCTION. V 

those le:iclcrs had nsked me to spare, if not their 
own lives, at least those of the common people ; 
but I easily saw that this was but a trick to gain 
time, and I immediately gave orders to burn or 
destroy men, cattle, houses, crops, and all. It 
was done in a storm of rain and hail, which 
is very convenient weather for such operations, 
as these people are then more easy to manage." 
That is one of our corner-stones ; here is the 
other : The successor of Elizabeth, James the 

First — not Shamus A' , for he did not come 

until after Charles the Second went to heaven in 
1684. Well, James No. 1 continued the extir- 
pating policy of his predecessor, and in 1607 the 
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland wrote to the Kins: as 
follows : " I have often said and written that 
famine is the best means of gettins; rid of the 
Irish ; our swords could never operate with such 
speed as hunger. I have burned all thef country 
about Lake Neagh ; I have killed all the inhabi- 
tants, sparing neither sex nor age — not to mention 
the great number of women and children, horses 
and cattle, that were burned with the houses." 
That is our other corner-stone — solid also. And 
now we shall add on in the construction of our 
arch some of the other events so firmly embedded 
in Ireland's history. 

Strongbow practised " wiles and treachery " to 
deceive and cheat the Irish ; he took Pope 
Adrian's bull by the horns, and, with a pardon 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

received from Henry II. in 1171, like a dntiful 
subject he carried the bull, the pardon, and fire 
and sword amongst the Irish chieftains. King 
John came next ; he was a son of Henry's, and was 
granted Ireland by his father ; he was " cruel and 
profligate." During the reigns of Henry HI., 
Edwards I., II., and HI., Richard II., Henrys IV,, 
v., and VI., Edwards IV. and V., and Richard 
HI., a succession of wars and spoliation occurred. 
Henry VII. came to the throne in 1475, and ap- 
pointed Sir Edward Poynings Lord-Lieutenant, 
who had enacted the celebrated " Poynings' Act," 
which provided, that, prior to the holding of any 
Parliament in Ireland, the Lord-Lieutenant and 
Privy Cguncil should first certify to the King the 
causes of assembling such Parliament, and specify 
such acts as they deemed requisite to pass. 

We now come to the "Defender of the Faith," 
of blessed memory, — the man of eight wives. 
He set himself up as Protestant Pope, transferred 
the Abbey lands to laymen, and all the tithes to 
the Protestants, and placed on the Catholics the 
support of both churches. He died in 1537, after 
having sent thousands before him on short notice, 
who, no doubt, gave him a warm reception if he 
happened to arrive in their location. Edward VI. 
ravaged the churches and seized Irishmen's lands, 
wdiich he mwo, to English adventurers. His sister, 
]\Iary Tudor, who succeeded him, extirpated the 
clans of Leix and Offallej'^ ; her troops massacred the 



INTRODUCTION. VH 

inhabitants. Queen Elizabeth began her despotic 
sway in 1558. This infamous monster inherited 
all her father's brutality. She ordered the Catholic 
religion to be forcibly prohil)ited in Ireland, the 
rack to be employed, and directed her officers to 
torture the suspected Irish. Her Deputy of IMun- 
ster, — Carew, — carried out the orders so, that, at 
the conclusion of his government, that province 
was nearly depopulated. She executed the clergy, 
slaughtered the people, and beggared the chiefs. 
James I. succeeded Elizabeth in 1603 ; his reign 
in Ireland was remarkable for the re-enactment of 
the penal laws, the plundering of Ulster chiefs in 
order to supplant the .estates with English and 
Scotch adventurers. His tool. Sir William Par- 
sons, roasted alive a man named Archer, on a 
gridiron, to make him swear to suit the Commis- 
sion on Titles. Charles I. followed in his father's 
footsteps in bigoted hostility and treachery tow- 
ards the Catholics. He took one hundred thou- 
sand pounds from the Catholic nobility, as a price 
for religious libert}'', security of property, for the 
abolition of private prisons kept by the Protes- 
tant clergy, and free pardon for past political 
offences. He pocketed the money, but broke his 
word. His head was cut off January 30, 1649. 
And now came the "curse of Cromwell." This 
hero (Cromwell) butchered men, women, and 
children. He massacred the inhabitants of Drogh- 
cda in cold blood. The slaughter went on for 



Vni mTEODUCTION. 

three days ; after which, in a despatch to the Par- 
liament, he thanked God "for that great mercy." 
He next massacred three hundred women who had 
assembled around a cross in Wexford. He left 
the most ensanguined trail on Irish history. 

Charles H. turned up in 1660. He confirmed 
the Cromwellians in the estates which they plun- 
dered from the Irish. An Act was passed in his 
reign to prevent the importation of Irish cattle 
into England. James II., of familiar fame, took 
the throne for a while after Charles died, — through, 
it was said, being poisoned. He offered the Irish 
Catholics civil and religious liberty, to aid him 
against William of Orange. They doubted him, 
but nevertheless took up arms in his cause. He 
was a coward, however, and ended his reign by 
flight. 

William HI. was the next kins^. He violated 
the treaty of Limerick, which guaranteed relig- 
ious liberty to the Catholics. He passed a law 
disabling the Catholics from educating their chil- 
dren, or being guardians of their own or other 
persons' children ; disarming all Catholics, and ex- 
pelling all Catholic prelates and priests from the 
kingdom. He killed the Irish linen trade by 
enactments. By the 7th of William HI., no Prot- 
estant in Ireland was allowed to instruct any 
"Papist," and no "Papist" was allowed to be sent 
out of Ireland to receive instructions. William 
died in 1701, and was succeeded by his cousin 



INTRODUCTION. IX 

and sister-in-law, Anne Stuart. Queen Anne had 
the celebrated and abonimahle penal c<jde passed, 
by which Catholics could not acquire landed prop- 
erty in fee, or by lease for longer than thirty-one 
years, and even then they could not possess an 
interest greater than one-third the amount of the 
rent. If a Catholic child became a Protestant, 
the parent could not sell his property, but would 
have to settle an annuity on the conforming child. 
Catholics could not inherit the estates of Protes- 
tant relations. A Catholic could not own a horse 
of greater value than five pounds. Forty pounds 
per annum were offered to Catholic priests who 
became Protestants. By the 8th of Anne no 
"Papist^was allowed to instruct any other "Pa- 
pist." By the same Act, fifty pounds' reward 
was ofiered for all informers against Catholic 
archbishops and vicars-general. Anne was trans- 
lated into Paradise A.D. 1714, and then came the 
first of the Georges. In the sixth year of 
George I.'s reign, a law was passed declaring 
that the English Parliament had full power and 
authority to make laws to bind the people of the 
kingdom of Ireland, and the Irish House of Lords 
was deprived of its final jurisdiction in cases of 
appeal. A law was attempted to be passed by 
the Irish Parliament inflicting a revoltingly inde- 
cent penalty on Catholic ecclesiastics ; it was so 
abomin^jle that Sir Robert Walpole, the English 
Prime Minister, secured its defeat. 



X INTRODUOTION. 

George 11. began his reign in 1727. A law 
was passed in the 29th year of George II. that 
barristers and attorneys were obliged to waive 
their privilege, and betray their clients, if "Pa- 
pists," and that "Papists" residing in Ireland 
should make good to Protestants all losses sus- 
tained by the privateers of any Catholic king 
"ravaging the coasts of Ireland." Then came 
George III, in 1760. In 1778 the Irish volun- 
teers sprang up, and in 1782 they blew away with 
their cannon a portion of the accursed laws which 
for nearly 700 years had enslaved the country. 

The commercial and constitutional liberty 
gained for Ireland by the Protestant patriots of 
'82, and which was enjoyed for the following 
eighteen years, was to the nation what an oasis 
in the desert is to the weary traveller. From that 
year Ireland rose in wealth, in trade, and in man- 
ufactures, and in every branch of industry that 
could render her rich and prosperous. She had 
won her seat among the nations of the world, and 
advanced in prosperity and the happiness of her 
people, to an extent unparalleled in the annals of 
any other country within so short a period. But 
the jealous eye of her old persecutor was on her. 
England but waited an opportunity to destroy the 
rising greatness of the Irish nation. This oppor- 
tunity she made in 1797-8, by brutally goading 
the people into premature insurrection. William 
Pitt sent into the country an immense army com- 



INTRODUCTION. XI 

posed of British and hired German mercenary 
troops, who were aided by native Orange yeo- 
manry. It is estimated that in those years, 137,- 
000 soldiers were in Ireland. A persecution, 
accompanied with all the circumstances of fero- 
cious cruelty, was begun ; neither age, sex, nor 
acknowledged innocence could excite pity. The 
profession of the Catholic faith alone, was consid- 
ered crime enough to justify the infliction of 
untold torture. Lord Moira, in a speech in the 
British House of Lords, Nov. 22, 1797, used 
these words : "I have known a man, in order to 
extort confession of a supposed crime, or of that 
of some neighbor, picketed till he actually fainted ; 
picketed a second time till he fainted again ; and 
when he came to himself picketed a third time, 
till he once more fainted, and all this upon mere 
suspicion." He also says that "men had been 
taken and hung up till they were half-dead, and 
afterwards threatened with a repetition of this 
treatment, unless they made a confession of their 
imputed guilt." He adds, "These were not par- 
ticular acts of cruelty, but formed part of the 
new system. Twenty-eight men were brought out 
and deliberately murdered by the Orange yeomen 
and a party of the Antrim militia on May 25, 
1798. Thirty-four men were shot Avithout trial 
at Dunlavin. The tortures familiarly practised 
b}^ the soldiery and yeomanry against the peo- 
ple were : Whipping, half-hanging, picketing. 



Xll INTRODUCTION. 

The hair of some of the victims was cut in the 
form of a cross on the crowns of their heads, and 
the hollow thus formed strewn with gunpowder 
which was set fire to, and the process repeated till 
the sufferers fainted. There was also the torture 
of the pitch-cap, which consisted in apply inij a 
cap smeared with hot pitch to the shorn head of 
"a croppy," and dragging it forcibly off when the 
pitch hardened. The flesh was thus torn from the 
victim's head, and blinding was added to his other 
sufferings, as the melted pitch streamed down his 
forehead into his eyes. The cabins of the peas- 
antry were burned, their sons tortured or mur- 
dered, and their daughters, in mtmy instances, 
brutally violated by the armed demon^. 

The following incident will show what a relish 
the yeomanry had ft)r the work of slaughter they 
were engaged in :> Hunter Go wan, a j-eomanry 
officer, marched into Gorey, at the head of his 
Orangemen, with a croppy finger on the point of 
his sword, and afterwards in a carousal he and his 
followers stirred their punch with it. Well, Pitt 
forced the country into rebellion in May, 1798, 
and on the 22d of the next January the union of 
the Parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland was 
proposed. Pitt, the British Minister, and Castle- 
reagh, the Irish Chief Secretary, had now brought 
things to maturity; and the next move — the one 
all through aimed at, the destruction of the Irish 
Parliament — was forced through by bribery, fraud, 



INTRODUCTION. XIU 

and unparalleled rascality. The new law went 
into operation January 1, 1881, and with it 
departed from Ireland, happiness, trade, manu- 
facture, and all that could give contentment to a 
nation. Was it zeal for the Protestant religion, 
or a hatred of Catholicism, that induced England 
to rob and torture the Irish people? We tliink 
not : Britain had her eye on the plunder to be 
obtained from the sister Isle, and religion was 
made a chief pretext to rob her. When the gor- 
gon-face of British cupidity is turned in. the direc- 
tion of any land that she thinks she can with 
impunity despoil, little does she scruple the means 
used to attain her end. 

In India England decorated the temples of the 
Hindoo gods, and provided the dancing girls, to 
engage the attention of the people while she pil- 
fered their princes. Macaulay says : "She gilded 
and painted the images of the Hindoo Pantheon, 
and embellished the car under the wheels of which 
crazy devotees flung themselves, to be crushed to 
death, at every festival. She sent guards of honor 
to escort pilgrims to places of worship, and actu- 
ally made oblations at the shrines of idols, in 
that country where human victims were offered 
to the Ganges, where the widow was laid on the 
pile with the corpse of her husband and burned 
alive by her own children."' In Ireland she set a 
price on the priest's head, and hunted him like a 
"Wolf. She tore down and desecrated the temples 



XIV INTRODUCTION. 

of the living God, and tortured and murdered the 
people for practising the religion of Christ. She 
legislated the people into ignorance by destroying 
the schools and teaching. While she offered in- 
cense to Buddha, she sought to destroy the relig- 
ion of the true God. We have now completed 
the monument of iniquity by these few fragments 
gathered from her myriad acts of infamy to the 
Irish race, and no doubt the reader will agree 
with us that it is a sufficient legacy of hate to 
nerve each succeeding generation of Irishmen in 
a continuous struggle to throw off the foul mon- 
ster that pressed down on the vitality of the Irish 
nation, absorbing the blood and life of her people. 
Here, then, are the sources in the past which, 
coupled with the injustice and oppression of Brit- 
ish rule in Ireland to-day, call forth the undying 
patriotism of the Irish race the world over, 
towards their country, and make possible such 
splendid heroism and sacrifice as have been shown 
by Ireland's matchless son, — Michael Davitt. 



Life of Michael Davitt. 



CHAPTER I. 



The Gbeat Land Agitation. — Michael Davitt again 
IN A Convict's Garb. — Innisfaii,. 

" Far dearer the grave or the prison, 
Illumed by one patriot name, 
Than the trophies of all who have risen 
On Liberty's ruins to fame." 

— MOOBE. 

Ireland, to-day, is in the midst of a great strug- 
gle for constitutional freedom. Slie stands a cen- 
tral figure among the nations, bravely fighting 
against immense odds with a powerful, crafty, 
and merciless oppressor, for the right to give 
bread and security to her i:)eople, — to protect 
them against the extortion and eviction of a class 
who inherit by primogeniture from alien adven- 
turers the plundered property of the Irish people. 
She has the sympathy and respect of the world, — 
because she deserves it. Her agitation is based 
on principles of right and justice, and her people 
are united and earnest in their demands for meas- 
ures which the civilization of the century in- 
dorses, and which, had she the right of enacting 
in a legislature of her own, she would grant to 
the oppressed millions. How are these demands 
treated by Ireland's ruler? The Irish prisons 

(1) 



Z LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

yawn to receive the promoters and leaders of con- 
stitutional agitation, and they are being rapidly 
filled up. Thirty thousand troops, fourteen thou- 
sand military police, and a hireling magistracy 
are doing what they can to terrorize the people. 
Coercion Acts have been passed to destroy the 
right of individual freedom for two years. Arms 
Acts have been made additional pretext for im- 
prisonment. In fine, England is straining every 
nerve in her strong body to break up this agita- 
tion and continue the chapter of the centuries 
sketched in our introductory remarks. 

The Irish National Land League leads and 
directs the agitation. Its objects are to emanci- 
pate six hundred thousand Irish tenant farmers 
from landlord rapacity and cruelty, by abolishing 
the law of primogeniture and entail, and creating 
""Nft peasant proprietary. 

Thus far, the Land League has achieved undy- 
ing renown. It averted, the awful consequences 
attendant upon an Irish famine. It saved thou- 
sands of lives which inevitably would have been 
sacrificed but for its timely interference. It came 
between the landlords and the people when the 
former were flooding the country with ejectments 
the year after the famine, and cried. Stop ! or 
we will Boycott you and your lands ; and they 
did stop. Here is the proof: After the great 
famine of 184G-47, the landlords evicted three 
hundred thousand families, or one and a half 



LIFE OF IMICIIAEL DAVITT. 3 

millions of people. In the House of Commons, 
during the session of 1879, Gladstone,* speaking 
on the Compensation for Disturbance Bill, which, 
amongst other things, was to restrict ejectments 
for two years until the effects caused by the fam- 
ine would have disaf)peared, and which bill passed 
the Commons, but was killed in the Houae of 
Lords, said, that if the bill did not pass, fifteen 
thousand individuals would be ejected in 1880 
from their homes, without remedy and without 
hope. Well, even this did not occur. The Land 
League was more powerfid than the Gladstone 
jMinistry. It brought the landlords to time, and 
saved the people. 

From what did this great organization, that has 
the support of all sections of Irishmen — Extrem- 
ists, Moderates, and even Orangemen — spring? 
We shall- discuss that later on, and will here point 
to the central figure in the executive body, the in- 
defatigable worker and great .organizer, Michael 
Davitt, of whom James Redpath said, in one 
of his letters when in Ireland, and while Davitt 
was in the United States, "When Davitt is in 
Ireland, he and not Parnell is the real leader of 
the agitation." Mr. Parnell acknowledges the 
same. Where to-day is this great leader, — this 
man who was instrumental in saving the lives of 
thousands of his famine-stricken country-people, 
who has l)uilt up a constitutional agitation never 
surpassed in any country, — a man who gave mild 



4 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

advice, and calmed the passion and desire for re- 
venge of an outraged people, — a man who accom- 
plished what the British Cabinet failed in, — where ? 
In the garb of an English convict, in the British 
convict prison of Portland ! — in the prison where 
heretofore he was tortured for over seven weary 
years. Such is ever England's reward to Irish- 
men who try to raise up their fellow-countrymen. 
But Davitt is enshrined in the heart of every 
man, woman, and child of Irish extraction, and 
in that of liberty-loving people of other national- 
ities, who will remember his sufferings in his 
country's cause ; and, if in the providence of 
God a day of reckoning for John Bull shall 
come, it will be added to the already heavy 
weight of iniquity to be atoned for. God send 
it soon and sudden ! 

In beginning a sketch of the life and ftibors, in 
Ireland's cause, of Michael Davitt, we cannot open 
in a more appropriate manner than by presenting 
to the reader a bold and fervid poem, written 
by Mr. Davitt while undergoing the horrors of 
Dartmoor convict prison, some years since, and 
never heretofore published. This emanation from 
his great heart is as apropos to-day as when the 
lines were written ; for heroic Davitt is again 
"in England's felon garb clad, and by her ven- 
geance bound." May the cry of love, loyalty, and 
daring, from the martyr's living tomb, breathed 
through these verses, fan into flame a fire of 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 5 

patriotism in the breasts of tens of thousands of 
Irish men and women, and be productive of as 
many sacrifices on the altar of Irish liberty : — 

INNISFAIL. 

In England's felon garb we're clad, 

And by her vengeance bound ; 
Her concentrated hate we've had — 

Her justice, never found. 
Her laws, accurs'd, have done their worst; 

In vain they still assail 
To crush the hearts that beat for thee, 

Our own loved Innisfail. 

Nor can the dungeon's deepest gloom, 

But make us love thee more; 
We'd brave the terrors of the tomb 

To keep the oath we swore : 
In chains, or free, to live for thee, 

And never once to quail 
Before the foe that wrought such woe 

To our loved Innisfail. 

From Irish mothers' hearts has flowed 

This sacred love of thee ; 
And Erin's daughters' cheeks have glowed 

That love in deeds to see. 
A coward-born fair lips will scorn, 

Whilst joyously they hail 
The hearts that beat for love of thee. 

Our own loved Innisfail. 

Then let our jailors scowl and roar 

When cheerful looks we wear; 
The Patriot's God that we adore 

Will shield us from despair. 
Fair bosoms rise with love-drawn sighs 

By mountain, stream, and vale, 
And day and night in prayers unite 

For us and Innisfail. 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

Here, chained beneath the tyrant's hand, 

By martyr's blood, we swear 
To Freedom and to Fatherland 

We still allegiance bear. 
Nor felon's fate, nor England's hate, 

Nor hellish-fashioned jail 
Shall stay this hand to wield a brand 

One day for Innisfail. 



CHAPTER II. 



Michael Davitt. — His Eakly Life. — Eviction fkom his 
Faem Home in Mayo. — Emigration. 

" Like the bright lamp that shone in Kildare's holy fane. 
And burned through long ages of darkness and storm, 
Is the heart that sorrows have frowned on in vain, 
Whose spirit outlives them, unfading and warm. 
Erin! oh Erin! thus bright, through the tears 
Of a long night of bondage, thy spirit appears." 

— MOOEE, 

The story of the life of Michael Davitt is one 
of unostentatious devotion to the cause of his 
country and his fellow men, and is withal a life 
of sacrifice and purity, He was born in 1846, of 
respected parents of the farming class, residing 
near Straide, County Mayo. The yeav was one 
of trial and intense suffering to the Irish people ; 
but, as the adage says, "Out of evil cometh good," 
so, out of tiiat black famine year of evil, came 
good to the people in the birth of a strong cham- 
pion and fearless advocate of the same class that 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 7 

was then dying of hunger on the roads' side, who 
was destined to overturn the sytem that produced 
the famine horrors which surrounded his birth. 
While he was yet young, the little home in 
which he first saw the light was torn down over 
his head, by that ruthless institution which has 
played so prominent a part in Ireland's historj^ — 
the Crowbar Brigade, the executive of the- laud- 
lord's will ; and he, with his parents and family, 
were thrown upon the road-side to live or die, as 
they might for all the reigning power cared. But 
they didn't die, unluckily for Irish landlordism ; 
and the evicted child lived to return to the site 
of his desecrated home, and, in the presence of 
fifteen thousand persons at one of the great land 
meetings, denounce the law and blasphemy that 
allowed such deeds to be perpetrated. The rec- 
ollection of this crime has had its effect upon 
Davitt's life ; for on the occasion referred to, Feb- 
ruary 1, 1880, standing upon a platform erected 
over the ruins of his family's homestead, he 
said : — 

" Does not the scene of domestic devastation now 
spread before this vast meeting bear testimony to the 
crimes with which landlordism stands charged before 
God and man to-da}'? Can a more eloqnent denuncia- 
tion of an accursed land-code be found than what is 
witnessed here in this depopulated district? In the 
memory of many now listening to mj' words, that 
peaceful little stream which meanders by the outskirts 



8 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

of this multitude sang back the meriy voices of happy 
children, and wended its way through a once populous 
and prosperous village. Now, however, the merry 
sounds are gone, the busy hum of hamlet life is hushed 
in sad desolation ; for the hands of the house destroy- 
ers have been here and performed their hellish work, 
leaving Straide but a name to mark the place where 
happy homesteads once stood, and whence an in- 
offensive people were driven to the. four corners of 
the earth by the ruthless decree of Irish landlordism. 
How often in a strange land has my bo3'hood's ear 
drunk in the tale of outrage and wrong and infam}' 
perpetrated here in the name of law and in the inter- 
est of territorial greed ! in listening to the accounts 
of famine and sorrow, of deaths J^y landlords, or cof- 
finless graves, of scenes — 

" *0d highway side, where oft was seen 
The wild dog aud the vulture keen 
Tug for the limbs and gnaw the face 
Of some starved child of our Irish race.' 

"What wonder that such laws should become hate- 
ful, and, when felt by personal experience of the tyr- 
anny and injustice, that a life of irreconcilable enmity 
to them should follow, and that, standing here on the 
spot where I first drew breath, in sight of a levelled 
home, with memories of privation and tortures crowd- 
ing upon my mind, I should swear to devote the re- 
maiuder of that life to the destruction of what has 
blasted my early years, pursued me with its vengeance 
through manhood, and leaves my family in exile to-da}-, 
far from that Ireland which is itself wronged, robbed, 
and humiliated through the agency of the same ac- 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 9 

cursed system ! It is no little consolation to knou', 
however, that we are here to-day doing battle against 
a doomed monopoly ; and that the power which has 
so long domineered over Ireland and its people is 
brought to its knees at last, and on the point of being 
crushed forever ; and, if I am standing to-day upon a 
platform erected over the ruins of my levelled home, 
I may yet have the satisfaction of trampling on the 
ruins of Irish landlordism." 

After the eviction, the Davitt family left Ire- 
land, a portion coming to America, but the par- 
ents going to England. In the factory town of 
Haslingden, near Manchester, in Lancashire, young 
Davitt grew up, and, like most children of such 
surroundings, he was early serving a master in 
one of the factories. Here he learned the suffer- 
ings of the fiictory slave, and suffered a mishap 
which caused the loss of his right arm ; that limb 
having been caught in the machinery and crushed, 
it had to be amputated at the shoulder. For five 
years afterwards, he attended the Wesleyan school 
in Haslingden, and when 15 years old, got employ- 
ment as assistant letter-carrier, and book-keeper, 
in the printing-office attached to the post-office 
there. In 1868 be became a commercial travel- 
ler, dealing extensively in fire-arms. This brought 
him into contact with a gunsmith named John Wil- 
son, from Birmingham, with whom he was after- 
wards tried. 

Duriug the time of the Murphy anti-Catholic 



10 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

riots, when that firebrand worked np the English 
fanatics to attack Catholic churches in Lancashire, 
Davitt showed the temper of the metal that was 
in him. He organized a band of young men of 
Irish parentage to protect the churches that were 
to be attacked. On one occasion, he and another 
young man, with revolvers in their hands, routed 
a large party of those fanatics, who were about 
attacking a Catholic church in Rochdale, by firing 
over their heads. The mob thought that Davitt 
and his companion Avere but the advance-guard of 
a large party, and fled for their lives ; by the 
intrepid stand of these two young Irishmen — for 
there were only the two defenders present — the 
church was saved. 

Whenever it became known that any of the Cath- 
olic churches in Rochdale, Bacup, Haslingden, or 
in any of the adjoining Lancashire towns, were to 
be attacked by the fanatical mobs, there Michael. 
Davitt and his faithful and gallant band were to 
be found, ready to prevent the desecration of the 
House of God, or die in the attempt. He ren- 
dered great service, and prevented the destruction 
of many a temple erected by the religious fervor 
of Irish Catholics in England. A strange event 
occurred some years afterwards in this, at that 
time, hot-bed of bigotry. When Davitt was 
released from prison, in 1877, after having suffer- 
ed seven years and seven months of untold agony, 
he visited those very towns in Lancashire, and 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 11 

■was ever}- where received by the same people with 
a perfect ovation. They turned out without 
regard to creed or party to receive him, and by 
public manifestations recognized and approved the 
great patriotism and sacrifices rendered to his 
country by their once-uncompromising foe. 

The English atmosphere which surrounded him, 
— owing to his patriotic parents and his associa- 
tion with the Irish exiles, who form a lai-ge por- 
tion of the north of England population, — the 
victims, like himself, of landlordism, — did not 
affect his love for his native land, and we find him 
at the inception of the Fenian movement an active, 
but, as ever, an unpretending apostle of the new 
hope for Ireland. He soon gathered round him 
some of the staunchest stuff which that organiza- 
tion brought out, and made the north of En2::land 
the very bulwark of the Irish cause. Davitt went 
into the movement with all the sincerit}^ of a man 
who felt that a i2:reat wronu; had been, and was be- 
ing, done his country, and that it was his duty 
to do all that he could to overthrow that wrong ; 
and it was not due to such men as Michael Davitt 
that more in that direction was not accomplished. 
When the call came from Ireland for men in '65, 
Davitt was one of the first to respond, and was 
not the. least disheartened at the fiilure, as was 
shown by his willingness to obey a second call in 
leading a detachment of the 2,000 North of Eng- 
land men who had irathered to attack Chester Cas- 



12 LIFE OF MICHAEL D.WITT. 

tie. When those above him coiiiitermaiided their 
orders, Davitt led his men back to their homes, 
disposing of his personal valuables to aid his less 
fortunate comrades. 



CHAPTER III. 



Davitt as a Literary Man. — His Arrest, Trial, and 
Prison Sufferings. 

" O God ! why should so brave a man 

His noble life thus yield? 
A patriot would rather die 

Upon the battle-field. 
But England's judges doomed the man, — 

Alas! that it should be; 
Let others emulate him still, 

And Ireland will be free." 

As a literary man, Michael Davitt stands high. 
He is a man of educated thought, and wide and 
varied reading. Among his many accomplish- 
ments is a thorough knowledge of the Irish, 
French, and Italian languages, whilst the purest 
English is to be found in his public utterances. 

In the re-organization of the Irish movement, 
which followed the attempt on Chester Castle, 
and while the British Government were doing to 
death the martyrs, — Allen, Larkin, and O'Brien, — 
Davitt threw into the movement his whole heart 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 13 

and soul, and worked with grim energy to repair 
the breaches made in the Irish national ranks, 
selecting the most dangerous work of arming the 
people. While thus engaged, he was arrested in 
London on May 14, 1870, with a gunsmith named 
John Wilson, from Birmingham ; the latter being 
in no way associated with the revolutionary move- 
ment, and not being supposed to know the uses 
intended for the arms which he sold. The follow- 
ing particulars of his trial at Newgate are gleaned 
from the London Central Criminal Court Petty 
Sessions papers : — 

He was indicted for feloniously conspiring to 
depose the Queen, and to levy war against her. 
The Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General, Mr. 
Cole, Mr. Poland, and Mr. Archibald conducted 
the prosecution. The first witness. Detective 
Seal, of Birmingham, deposed to the despatch 
(under Wilson's supervision, from Birmingham) 
to Leeds of a box containing nineteen muzzle- 
loading rifles, nineteen bayonets, and a Snider 
breech-loader; also, a cask addressed to Glas- 
gow, which contained thirty-six large-chamber re- 
volvers, with packages of cartridges. A few days 
later. Detective Seal swore, he saw Wilson and 
Davitt together, and watched them despatch three 
boxes to Newcastle-on-Tyne. These boxes were 
ultimately opened, and were found to contain revol- 
vers and ammunition. The case occupied a consid- 
erable time, as it was necessary in each instance 



14 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

to prove that the consignment of arms had been 
sent either by Davitt or by Wilson ; to prove its 
despatch, its delivery, and its contents ; that 
there was no genuine business invoice, and 
no genuine consignee in any way connected with 
it ; and to prove from a variety of small circum- 
stances that Wilson and Davitt were acting in con- 
cert. An important witness after Detective Seal 
was John Bodley, head constable of the Irish Con- 
stabulary, who gave evidence as to the opening of 
a case containing ten rifles, six revolvers, five 
sword bayonets, three bayonets, and three turn- 
screws. The arms were all fit for use, but were 
not finished as they would have been had they 
been intended for sale. Superintendent Dixon, 
of the Newcastle police, proved that he impound- 
ed three cases, each containing twenty-five revol- 
vers. Detective Henderson, of Manchester, gave 
evidence as to a box which contained 11,000 
rounds of revolver cartridges and 400 rounds for 
Snider rifles ; that the weapons were not in a fin- 
ished state, and could not have been intended for 
sale, as no gunmaker would have shown them in 
his window ; that they were despatched in ficti- 
tious names, and were addressed to fictitious con- 
signees ; in each case they were ultimately traced 
back to the possession of Wilson and Davitt. 

The principal event in the course of the trial 
was the examination of the infamous informer, 
John Joseph Corydon. "I was at one time," he 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 15 

swore, "an officer in the Federal Army in Amer- 
ica. I left it in 1856. I became a member of the 
Fenian Confederation in 1862. I remained so till 
1865. An organization of the Fenian conspiracy 
existed in New York, and in several parts of 
America. Meetings were held at which I was 
present. The object of the conspiracy was to 
overthrow her Majesty's Government in Ireland, 
and establish an Irish Reiyublic. An oath was 
administered to the members. I took it. It was 
to be faithful to the Fenian organization, and to 
take np arras when required for the establishment 
of the Eepublic in Ireland. The organization was 
very extensive in America. The headquarters 
were in New York, and there were branches at 
different cities throughout the United States, with 
State centres at the head of them. I was seiit to 
Ireland in 1865 by John O'Mahony. Pie was then 
the head of the Fenian organization in America, 
The Fenian organization existed at that time in 
Ireland. The head-centre of all — Stephens — was 
in Dublin. The organization was ready to fight at 
any time if he gave the word. We had frequent 
meetings at Liverpool. Money was collected at 
these to buy arms. Arms were procured at Leeds, 
Birmingham, and all the manufacturing towns in 
England. I know Colonel Burke. It was his 
function to buy arms. A great quantity were 
bought. In February, 1867, an attempt was made 
to seize the arms in Chester Castle. The mail 



16 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

train from London to Holyhead was to be seized 
as it was passing Chester. The telegraph wires 
were to be torn down. The rails were to be taken up. 
The arms taken at Chester Castle were to be put 
in the train and taken to Holyhead, where the 
mail boat was to be seized and taken to some port 
in Ireland. That port was not Dublin. I gave 
information, and the enterprise was disconcerted. 
It was arranged that as many as 1,200 or 1,400 
Fenians were to surprise Chester Castle. I did 
not myself go to Chester. I only went as far as 
Birkenhead. I saw as many as 600 going from 
the Liverpool district. After the attempt on Ches- 
ter Castle, Fenian meetings were held every day 
in MuUan's house. These meetings consisted en- 
tirely of Fenians. M'Affcrty and Flood were 
there. Captain Deasy and several others were 
present. They were mostly American officers. 
The subject of discussion at these meetings was 
the loss of not having taken Chester Castle, and 
the making of arrangements for the rising of the 
5th of March in Ireland. Davitt was there the 
whole time." 

Corydon's evidence regarding meeting Davitt 
before was as false as his dark heart was vile. 
Michael Davitt solemnly declared that he never 
saw the wretch until the latter came to the prison 
to identify him, whilst awaiting trial. On that 
occasion, the following contemptible dodge was 
resorted to, by the prison officials, in order that 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 17 

the informer might be enabled to identity, and 
swear away the liberty of the prisoner. Corj^don 
and others being in the prison corridor, Davitt 
was ordered to come out of his cell, and go into 
another. Of course the informer saw him when 
doing so, and was told it was Davitt. He then 
came to the cell, and identified the prisoner. 
When Davitt saw Corydon, he at once recognized 
an informer, and said to him : "So you are one of 
the reptiles that had to fly from Ireland to save 
your life." Corydon replied, with a devilish leer, 
"You will find that I will live Ion": enoucrh to 
settle 3'ou." And so he did ; for it was mainly on 
the evidence of the perjured rascal that Davitt 
was found guilty and sentenced to fifteen years' 
penal servitude. 

During the trial, the following evidence of Dav- 
itt's nobleness of nature showed itself: He made a 
feeling appeal to the Judge in behalf of Wilson, 
who was a man with a wife and fiimily. He said 
W^ilson was totally unconnected in any manner 
with the Irish movement ; " that he was entirely 
innocent of the charge on which he was indicted ; 
and that he (Davitt) would willingly take the sen- 
tence intended for the Englishman, in addition 
to his own." For this generous act, he was com- 
plimented by the Court, and was told that the 
matter would be considered. Wilson was subse- 
quently sentenced to the lighter term of seven 
years' and Davitt to fifteen years' penal servitude ; 



18 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

seven years and seven months of which he served 
in different British bastiles. 

The terrible sufl'erings endured in those weary 
years were afterwards told by Michael Davitt, in a 
pamphlet which he published soon after his re- 
lease on ticket-of-leave, December 19, 1877. The 
record is a heart-breaking one, and proves what 
an overmastering devotion Mr. Davitt must have 
had to his native land, when even the recollection 
of his frightful sufferings, and the possibility — 
which has since happened — of his being re-ar- 
rested and sent back to the horrors of a convict 
prison, by the cancellation of his ticket-of-leave, 
never prevented him for one moment from labor- 
ing for the emancipation of those of his fellow- 
countrymen who are victims to a cruel, unjust 
system of land tenure. We shall let him in his 
own words give the heart-rending recital. He 
says : — 

" When arrested in London on the 14th of Ma^y, 1870, 
I was taken to the Paddingtou Police Station, and un- 
derwent the customary questioning, searching, and 
other preliminaries to a ' lodgings in a lock-up.' From 
Saturday night until Monda}' morning, 1 was confined 
in an almost darkened cell, in which was a water-closet 
with its inseparable ofTensivcness. I was allowed nei- 
ther bed nor bedding, and had consequently no sleep 
during the time I remained in the station, from Satur- 
day' till Monday. I was allowed but a little light, only 
when eating my meals. On my arrival in Clerkenwell 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 19 

House of Detention, after the examination before the 
Mar3-lebone Police Court magistrate, I was immedi- 
SLtely stripped naked, and compelled to undergo the 
indignity of being searched in a manner almost too 
disgusting to describe. Each article of dress was mi- 
nutel}- examined by one warder ; while another was 
employed in watching, lest I should resent the insult 
to which I was subjected in being made to stand naked 
in presence of the two warders ; one of whom was coolly 
satisfying himself that I had nothing concealed upon 
my person. After each of the five or six examina- 
tions I underwent before the magistrates, previous to 
being committed for trial, I had to submit to the same 
searching, in the state of nudity I have described, on 
arriving in the House of Detention. 

" The first time the Governor visited me in my cell, he 
inquired what I was arrested for ; and on m}^ answering 
that I was taken on suspicion of being a Fenian, he 
replied, ' I don't care what you are ; j^ou must clean 
those traps [pointing to water-closet taps and other 
utensils in the cell] while you remain here ;' and during' 
m}' confinement there, I was compelled to do so, as 
also to clean my cell floor and windows. I was only 
allowed one hour each day for exercise, and, of course, 
not permitted to speak to anyone. There were none 
but religious books allowed me during my stay in that 
prison. The bedding was the worst and scantiest I 
have seen during my whole imprisonment, being noth- 
ing but a dirty blanket and rug, and* a bare, unmat- 
tressed hammock. Having paid for my own keep 
while awaiting my trial, I cannot speak as to the quan- 
tity or quality of the food supplied to prisoners in 
Clerkenwell. 



20 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

" When the informer Corydon was brought to identify 
me, I was taken from the cell in which I was located, 
and marched along the ward in sight of the informer 
and detectives who accompanied him, and placed in a 
cell for identification. The informer was then sup- 
posed to look through the inspection hole of each cell 
in the ward to find me ; and after being permitted to 
see me taken out of one cell and put into another, it 
was not a very brilliant achievement, even for John 
Joseph Corydon, to find me in the cell he saw me enter. 
In addition to this, I may be pardoned for detailing 
another incident that occurred ; and which I believe con- 
tributed not a little to my conviction. A few days 
previous to being committed for trial, I drew up in- 
structions for my solicitor as to the mode of my 
defence ; and this I had done in exact accordance with 
the rules suspended in my cell, which rules also speci- 
fied that such instructions could be handed by prison- 
ers to their legal advisers, without previous inspection 
by the Governor or other prison officials. When my 
'solicitor's clerk visited me for the purpose of receiving 
those instructions, I handed him the envelope contain- 
ing them, in the presence of the warder who presided 
at the interview, and who had brought me from my 
cell to the visitors' or solicitors' room. Two daj^s 
afterwards, I was again visited by my solicitor's clerk, 
and astounded to hear that the Governor had demanded 
my letter after the previous visit, as the officer had 
reported that he saw me draw a plan af the prison upon 
a piece of paper and give the same to the clerk ! When 
I saw the Governor on the following morning, I de- 
manded an explanation of this strange proceeding, 
and had to remain satisfied with being told that it was 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 21 

the officer's fault, and that if i had no objection to his 
(the Governor's) reading my letter, it would be given 
to my solicitor. I replied that I had not the least ob- 
jection, owing to what the officer had reported ; but 
that I protested against the whole proceeding as unfair, 
and directly opposed to the rules hung up in my cell. 
Now mark what transpired within those two days. A 
sensational paragraph had appeared in one of the Lon- 
don dailies, announcing that another plot had been 
discovered to blow up the House of Detention, and 
that on this occasion it would be attempted from within 
the prison. It is unnecessary to say what effect this 
would have upon the public mind, and how small the 
chance would be of my obtaining an unprejudiced jury 
and an impartial trial in London after this. Two great 
points had, by this heartless canard, been made against 
me ; the plan of my defense had been discovered, and 
the public feeling directed adversely towards me, owing 
to the report that I had intended to effect another 
explosion." 

Mr. Davitt was then removed to Newgate, 
where his treatment was not so severe, he says, as 
it had been in Clerkenwell. His first experience 
of the horrors of penal servitude he tlius de- 
scribes : — 

" M^^ trial commenced on the 5th of July, and at six 
o'clock in the evening of the 18th I was sentenced to 
fifteen years' penal servitude, and poor Wilson to seven. 
Immediately .after sentence, I was deprived of my 
clothes and put in convict uniform ; my hair and beard 
being cut close at the same time. I remained in New- 



22 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

gate but eleven days after receiving my sentence, and 
in that short period I was being initiated into the 
reality of penal servitude. 

" My work, however, was not very heavy, nor other- 
wise disagreeable ; but the classification with thieves 
had alread}^ commenced, and the prospect of spending 
perhaps fifteen years in such company made Newgate 
then appear — what in comparison with other prisons 
it is not — a veritable Inferno. 

" On the 29th of July I was removed to Millbank, and 
saw Wilson for the last time on that day. If my pray- 
ers could have spared him the suflTerings he has since 
undergone, I would have left Newgate with a much 
lighter heart. Chains were fastened round mj'^ ankles 
in such a manner that I could only stride some twelve 
or fifteen inches when walking ; and, to insure my of- 
fering no resistance, I was compelled to hold the end 
of the chain with which my feet were bound. Thus 
dressed and manacled, and guarded b}' a couple of 
warders, I was driven from Newgate, along the Thames 
Embankment, to Millbank penitentiary. Not quite 
three months had yet elapsed since I had walked that 
promenade free and unfettered, without any foreboding 
of what fate had in store for me ; and now I was only 
allowed, b}' the necessity of m}^ removal from one 
prison to another, to look upon that scene for a few mo- 
ments, and imprint upon my memor}' the liberty it por- 
trayed, and the life from which I was to be debarred for 
years. To leave the broad and cheerful light of day, 
and be immurred in a solitary cell, — to exchange 
the social amenities of life, home, country, and friends, 
for an existence undreamt of by those who know not 
what a world of suffering is comprised in the meaning 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 23 

of the words ' solitary confinement,' — is a feeling im- 
possible to be expressed in words. John Mitchel has 
attempted to record his own sensations when, after sen- 
tence for treason-felony, he found himself in ' soli- 
tary ' for the first time : — 

" ' It came at last ; my door was shut, and for the first 
time I was quite alone. And now I do confess that I 
flung myself upon mj^ bed and broke into a raging pas- 
sion of tears, — tears bitter and salt, but not of base 
lamentation for my own fate. The thoughts and feel- 
ings that have so shaken me for this once, language 
was never made to describe.' 

" This is the testimony of one whose proud soul had 
never acknowledged its susceptibility to the common 
weakness of humanity ; but solitary confinement wrung 
tears from Mitchel. The vagrant sunbeam that finds 
its way to the lonely occupant of a prison cell, but 
speaks of the liberty which others enjoy, of the happi- 
ness that falls to the lot of those whom misfortune has 
not dragged from the pleasures of life. The cries, the 
noise, and uproar of London which penetrate the 
silent corridors, and re-echo in the cheerless cells of 
Millbank, are so many mocking voices that come to 
laugh at the misery their walls enclose, and arouse the 
recollection of happier days to probe the wounds of 
present sorrow. And if, despite all this, a prisoner 
should try to raise himself above those depressing in- 
fluences, and cheat despair of its prey, he will then 
experience how far man can go in his inhumanity to 
man, by finding himself denied the only consolation 
left him in his utter loneliness, — the solace of solacing 
himself. He will find men who will watch for a smile, 
or some other sign of a happy obliviousness, and then, 



24 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

by some of the many arts practised for the purpose, 
end the momentary forgetfuhiess of imprisonment by 
an exercise of the almost uncontrolled power they 
wield over their unfortunate charges." 

Speaking of his life in Millbank, Mr. Davitt 
says : — 

" To relate every incident of my ten months' incarcer- 
ation in Millbank penitentiary^ would only be a tedious 
repetition of each day's experience, so uniform is the 
system of punishment in that prison. 

" A description of the cells, together with an account 
of the daily routine and work that had to be done, will 
suffice to form some idea of what punishment has to 
be borne in what is termed ' probation class.' The 
cells are some nine or ten feet long, by about eight 
wide. Stone floor, bare, whitewashed walls, with nei- 
ther table nor stool, and of course with no fire to 
warm, by its cheerful glow, the oppressing chillness of 
such a place. My bedstead was made of three planks, 
laid parallel to each other at the end of the cell, and 
raised from the stone floor but three inches at the foot, 
and six at the head, of this trul}^ low couch. The only 
seat allowed me was a bucket, which contained the 
water supplied me for washing purposes, — this bucket 
having a cover so as to answer the double purpose of 
water-holder and stool. The height of this sole arti- 
cle of furniture allowed me was fourteen inches ex- 
actl}', including the lid, and on this 'repentance stool' 
I was compelled to sit at work ten hours at least, each 
day, for ten months. 

" The punishment this entails upon a tall man can be 
easily conceived. The recumbent posture and bent 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 25 

chest necessary while picking oakum, with nothing to 
lean one's back against to obtain a momentary relief, 
is distressing in the extreme. The effect upon me, in 
addition to inducing a weakness in my chest, was sin- 
gular, but not surprising. 

" On entering Milbank, my height was exactly six 
feet, as measured by the prison standard for that pur- 
pose ; but on my departure for Dartmoor, ten months 
after, I had illustrated the saying that some people can 
grow downwards, for I then measured but five feet ten 
and a half inches. 

" The bedding supplied was miserably insuflScient dur- 
ing the winter months ; and owing to this, and the 
sitting posture during the day, with feet resting 
upon cold flags, with no fire, and with a prohibition 
against walking in the cell, many prisoners have lost 
the use of their limbs from the effects of a Millbank 
winter. But one hour's exercise in the prison yard 
was allowed each day, and that was forfeited if the 
weather proved unfavorable. Owing to m}' health be- 
ginning to break down, I was permitted an extra half- 
hour's exercise, after I had been eight months in the 
prison. This was granted by the doctor's order. 

" I had to rise at six each morning, fold up my bed 
very neatly, and afterwards wash and scrub m}' cell 
floor quite clean with brush and stone used for that 
purpose. This washing and scrubbing was, I need 
scarcely remai'k, very distressing upon me, owing to 
my physical infirmity ; but I was compelled to do it, 
nevertheless, once each day during the whole term of 
my imprisonment. After cells were cleaned in the 
manner I have described, work was then commenced, 
and continued until a quarter to nine at night ; allow- 



26 MFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

ing, of course, for meals, exercise, and prayers in 
chapel each morning. 

" The work I was put to in this prison was coir and 
oakum picking. I was not tasked ; but I had to sit 
working all day, and pick a reasonable share of my 
coir or oakum, as the case might be. When I in- 
quired, on being first ordered to this sort of work;, how 
I could possibly do it with but a limited number of 
fingers at my diposal, I was told by the warder that he 
had known several ' blokes ' with but one hand who had 
managed to pick oakum very well with their teeth. As 
I declined to use my teeth to tear old ropes to pieces, 
I had to do the work as best I could. 

" During the whole of my sta^^ in Millbank, my con- 
versation with prisoners, — at the risk of being pun- 
ished, of course, — as also with warders and chaplains, 
would not occupy me twenty minutes to repeat, could 
I collect all the scattered words spoken by me in the 
whole of that ten months. 

" I recollect many weeks going by without my ex- 
changing a word with a single human being. 

"The food allowed me for daily rations was as fol- 
lows : Breakfast, eight ounces of bread, and three- 
quarters of a pint of cocoa. Dinner, four ounces of 
meat (including bone), four days a week, with six 
ounces of bread and a pound of potatoes ; one da}' in 
the week I was allowed a pint of shin-of-beef soup in 
lieu of meat, and on another one pound of suet pud- 
ding, ditto. Dinner on Sunday was twelve ounces of 
bread, four ounces of cheese, and a pint of water. And 
for supper each night I received six ounces of bread, 
and a pint of ' skill}-,' containing — or rather sup- 
posed to contain — two ounces of oatmeal. 



LIFE OF mCHAEL DAVITT. • 27 

" This was the ordinary prison allowance. 

"After subsisting for tliree months on this diet, I ap- 
plied to the doctor for a little more food, on the ground 
that I was losing weight, owing to the insufficiency of 
the quantity allowed ; but my application was of no 
avail. 

"The books supplied me while in Millbank were al- 
most exclusively religious, and but one library book 
was allowed to each prisoner in a fortnight. 

" I asked to have mine changed once a week, but was 
promptly told I could not be favored beyond other 
prisoners. The class of books supplied to the Cath- 
olic prisoners was such as would be suitable to children, 
or people ignorant of the truths of the Catholic faith. 

"I had often no book to read but one that might an- 
swer the requirements of a child ; such as the historj' 
of ' Naughty Fannj^,' or ' Grandmother Betty,' and 
like productions, which, though doubtless good in their 
way, were not what could lessen the dreary monotony 
of such an existence. 

" A circumstance in connection with the situation of 
Millbank may (taken with what I have already said on 
that prison) give some faint idea of what confinement 
there really means. Westminster Tower clock is not 
far distant from the penitentiary, so that its every 
stroke is as distinctly heard in each cell as if it were 
situated in one of the prison yards. At each quarter 
of an hour, day and night, it chimes a bar of the ' Old 
Hundredth,' and those solemn tones strike on the ears 
of the lonelj^ listeners like the voice of some monster 
singing the funeral dirge of time. 

" Ol't in the lonely watches of the night has it reminded 
me of the number of strokes I was doomed to listen to, 



28 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAYITT. 

and of how slowly those minutes were creeping along I 
The weivcl chant of Westminster clock will ever haunt 
my memor}^ and recall that period of mj" imprison- 
ment when I first had to implore Divine Providence 
to preserve my reason and save me from the madness 
which seemed inevitable, through mental and corporal 
tortures combined. 

"That human reason should give way under such ad- 
verse influences is not, I think, to be wondered at ; and 
many a still living wreck of manhood can refer to the 
silent system of Millbank and its pernicious surround- 
ings as the cause of his debilitated mind. 

" It was here that Edward Duffy died, and where 
Rickard Burke and Martin Hanly Carey were for a time 
oblivious of their sufferings from temporary insanity', 
and where Daniel Reddin was paralyzed. It was here 
where Thomas Ahern first showed sjaiiptoms of mad- 
ness, and was put in dark cells and strait-jacket for 
a ' test' as to the reality of these symptoms. Ten years 
have passed their long and silent courses since then; 
but that same Thomas Ahern is still a prisoner, and his 
mind is still tottering on the brink of insanity. I 
have anxiously watched him drifting towards this fate 
for the past six years, unable to render him any assist- 
ance, and I can predict that if he is not soon liber- 
ated he will exchange Dartmoor for Broadmoor Lunatic 
Prison, like so many other victims of penal servitude." 



LIFB OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 29 



CHAPTER IV. 

Fkom Mfllbakk to Dartmoor. — Six Years and SrS 
Months of Agont. 

** O men who have passed through the furnace, 
Assayed like the gold, and as pure! 
By your strength can the weakest gain firmness, 

The strongest may learn to endure; 
When once they have chosen their part, 
Though the sword may drive home to each heart." 

— Anon. 

" If the whole United Kingdom was searched throngh 
for the purpose of discovering a place whereon to erect a 
prison, with the view of utilizing the rigors of a severe 
climate, damp fogs, more than average rainfall, and a 
lengthened winter season, with all that was desolate 
and uninviting in the aspect of nature to assist in the 
punishment of prisoners, no more suitable place than 
Dartmoor could be found if a Procrustean spirit guided 
the search. Buried in the midst of barren and bowl- 
der-strewn Devonshire moors, it is peculiarly adapted 
for an abode of misery. It was here where the French 
and American prisoners of war were incarcerated dur- 
ing the wars with the first Napoleon and rebel America, 
and many a gallant foe of England's there sank be- 
neath the hardships of the climate and the treatment 
he received. 

" The chivalrous Lord Dundonald denounced the Gov- 
ernment of the daj-, in the strongest terms, for confin- 
ing brave and honorable enemies in such a place ; 
* enveloped,' as he declared, from observation ' iu al- 



30 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

most perpetual fog.* Well, governments were no 
more indifferent in those da3's to the inhuman treat- 
ment of their fallen foes than in more modern, and I 
shall say more humane (?) times; but now, as then, 
there are a few generous-hearted Englishmen to be 
found courageous enough to say they do not glory in 
this, the shame of England ; and that, whether cannons 
are charged with foes in India, enemies tied to trees 
and fired at for practice in Jamaica, or the youth of 
Ireland done to death by penal servitude in England's 
prisons, it is a disgrace to any country boasting of its 
civilization, and repugnant to the generous instincts of 
humanity. 

" It would be impossible for me, in the limited time 
at m}' disposal, to detail every circumstance connected 
with my six years and six months confinement in Dart- 
moor : I can, therefore, only dwell upon the most prom- 
inent incidents connected with my treatment during 
that period, bj^ a simple statement of facts as to what 
that treatment was. 

" For the first week after my arrival from Millbank 
I was located in the penal cells, and had to make appli- 
cation for removal from same into some other part of 
the prison. The penal cells, or rather some of them, 
are much preferable to the ordinary or iron cells, being 
somewhat larger and much better ventilated ; but ow- 
ing to their being constructed and set apart for incor- 
rigible prisoiif rs, — men who are taught obedience by 
means of starvation, and consequently maddened by 
hunger and cold, — it is almost impossible to obtain 
any sleep in such a place. I will have more to say 
anent these cells by and by, as I was confined in them 
from August, '76, until November, '77. The iron or or- 



LIFE OP MICHAEL DAVITT. 31 

dinary cell I was next located in, and remained an 
inmate of for close on five years, I will now describe. 
So much attention Ijaving been directed to these veri- 
table iron cages by the exposure of poor M'Carthy's 
treatment, and his confinement in such cells, I pur- 
pose giving an accurate description of them, and re- 
moving any doubts, if such exist, as. to the account 
already given of their size, construction, and ventila- 
tion. The dimensions of one of them will answer for 
that of the whole, as thc}^ are uniform in almost every 
respect. Length, seven feet exactly ; width, four feet ; 
and height, seven feet one or two inches. The sides 
(or frames) of all are of corrugated iron, and the floor 
is a slate one. These cells are ranged in tiers or wards 
in the centre of a hall, the tiers being one above an- 
other, to the height of four wards ; the floors of the 
three upper tiers of cells forming the ceilings or tops 
of those immediatch^ beneath them. Each ward or 
tier contains in length forty-two cells, giving a total of 
one hundred and sixtj^-eight for one hall. The sole 
provision made for ventilating these cells is an open- 
ing of two and a half or three inches left at the bot- 
tom of each door. There is no opening into the external 
air from any of those cells in Dartmoor ; and the air 
admitted into the hall has to traverse the width of the 
same to enter the hole under the cell doors. In the 
cells on the first three tiers, or wards, there are about 
a dozen small perforations in the corner of each, for 
the escape of vitiated air ; but in those on the top or 
fourth ward — or, speaking more confidently, in those 
on that ward in which I was located a portion of my 
time — there were no such perforations, — no possible way 
of escape for foul air except where most of it entered 



32 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

as ' pure,' — under the cell door. In the heat of sum- 
mer it was almost impossible to breathe in these top 
cells ; so close and foul would the air become from the 
improper ventilation of the cells below, allowing the 
breathed air in each cell to mix with that in the hall, 
and thus ascend to the top. 

•' I, on one occasion, begged the Governor of Dart- 
moor to remove me from such a situation, for the ad- 
ditional reason to those I liave given that I had not 
sufficient light to read in the cell I was in ; but I begged 
in vain. I was, however, soon after removed to a lower 
tier, after foul eruptions began to break out upon my 
body through the impure air I had been breathing. It 
has been since denied by Chatham prison officials that 
Charles McCarthj' ever slept with his bed across the 
inside of his cell door, in order to catch sufficient air to 
breathe. From m^' own experience I can fully believe 
the necessity of his doing so, as it was quite common 
in Dartmoor for prisoners to sleep with their heads 
towards the door for a similar reason ; and I have often, 
in the summer season, done this myself, and had, re- 
peatedly, to go on my knees and put my mouth to the 
bottom of the door for a little air. 

" The light admitted to those ordinary iron cells is 
scarcely sufficient to read by in the daytime ; and, 
should a fog prevail, it would be impossible to read in 
half of them. The cells are fitted with a couple of 
plates of thick, intransparent glass, about eighteen 
inches long by six inches wide each, and the light is 
transmitted through this ' window ' from the hall, and 
not from the extern of the prison. I have often laid 
the length of my body on the cell floor, and placed 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 33 

my book under the door to catch sufficient light to 
read it. 

" Tlie food irT Dartmoor prison I found to be the very 
worst in qualit}^ and the filthiest in cooking of any of 
the other places I had been in. The quantity of daily 
rations was the same as in Millbank, with the difference 
of four ounces of bread more each day and one of meat 
less in the week. The qualit}^, as I have already re- 
marked, is inferior to that of any other prison : but from 
about November till May it is simply execrable ; the 
potatoes being often unfit to eat, and rotten cow-carrots 
occasionallj' substituted for other food. To find black 
beetles in soup, ' skilly,' bread, and tea, was quite a 
common occurrence ; and some idea can be formed of 
how hunger will reconcile a man to look without dis- 
gust upon the most filthy objects in nature, when I 
state as a fact that I have often discovered beetles in 
my food and have eaten it after throwing them aside, 
without experiencing much revulsion of feeling at the 
sight of such loathsome animals in my victuals. Still 
I have often come in from work weak with fatigue and 
hunger, and found it impossible to eat the putrid meat 
or stinking soup supplied me for dinner, and had to re- 
turn to labor again after ' dining ' on six ounces of bad 
bread. 

"It was quite a common occurrence in Dartmoor for 
men to be reported and punished for eating candles, 
boot oil, and other repulsive articles ; and, notwith- 
standing that a highly offensive smell is purposely 
given to prison candles to prevent their being eaten 
instead of burned, men are driven by a S3'stem of half- 
starvation into an animal-like voracit}', and anything 
that a dog would eat is nowise repugnant to their 



34 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT.' 

taste. I have seen men eat old poultices found buried in 
heaps of rubbish I was assisting in carting away, and 
have seen bits of candle pulled out of the prison cess- 
pool and eaten after the human soil was wiped off 
them ! 

" The labor I was first put to was stone-breaking, 
that being considered suitable work for non-able-bod- 
ied prisoners. I was put to this emploj-ment in a large 
shed, along with some eighty or ninetj' more prisoners ; 
but, my hand becoming blistered by the action of the 
hammer after I had broken stones for a week, I was 
unable to continue at that work, and was consequently 
put to what is termed ' cart labor.' This sort of work 
is very general in Dartmoor, and I ma}^ as well give 
some description of it. 

" Eight men constitute a ' cart part}',' and have an 
officer over them, armed with a staff, if working within 
the prison walls, and with a rifle and accompanied by 
an armed guard, if employed outside. Each man in 
the cart part}" is supplied with a collar, which is put 
over the head and passes from the right or left shoul- 
der under the opposite arm, and is then hooked to the 
chain by means of which the cart is drawn about. The 
cart partj' to which I was attached was emploj-ed in 
carting stones, coals, manure, and rubbish of all de- 
scriptions. In drawing the cart along, each prisoner 
has to bend forward and pull with all his strength, or 
the warder who is driving will threaten to ' run him 
in,' or report him for idleness. It was our work to 
supply aM parts of the prison — workshops, officers' 
mess-room, cook-house, etc. — with coals ; and I was 
often drawing these about in rain and sleet, with no 
fire to warm or dry myself after a wetting. I was only 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 35 

a few months at this sort of work, as I met with a 
slight accident by a collar hurting the remnant of my 
right arm, and was in consequence of this excused 
from cart labor b}'' the doctor's order. I was again set 
to breaking granite, and remained at that job during 
the winter of 1870-71. 

" I may remark that in June, when I was first put to 
stone-breaking, I was employed in a shed ; but during 
the winter I was compelled to work outside, in the cold 
and damp, foggy weather. I was left at this work until 
spring, and was then removed to a task from the effects 
of which I believe I will never completely recover. 
M}' health on entering prison was excellent, never hav- 
ing had any sickness at any previous period of my 
life. The close confinement and insuflScient food in 
Millbank had told, of course, on m}^ constitution, 
though not to anj^ very alarming extent ; but the task 
I was now put to laid the germs of the heart and lung 
disease I have since been suffering from. This task 
was putrid bone-breaking. 

" On the brink of the prison cesspool, in which all 
the soil of the whole establishment is accumulated for 
manure, stands a small building, some twenty feet long 
by about ten broad, known as the ' bone-shed.' The 
floor of this shed is sunk some three feet lower than 
the ground outside, and is on a level with the pool 
which laves the wall of the building. All the bones 
accruing from the meat supply of the prison were 
pounded into dust in this shed, and during the summer 
of 1872 (excepting five weeks spent in Portsmouth 
prison) this was ray employment. These bones have 
often lain putrifying for weeks in the broiling heat of 
the summer sun, ere the}' were brought in to be broken. 



36 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

The stench arising from their decomposition, together 
with the noxious exhalations from the action of the 
sun's rays on the cesspool outside, no words could ade- 
quately express : it was a veritable charnel-house. It 
will be noted that I was at work outside the previ- 
ous winter, and when the bright da^'s and summer sea- 
son came on I was put in a low shed to break putrifying 
bones ! The number of prisoners at this work varied 
from thirty to six, and I may remark that the majority 
of these were what are termed ' doctor's men,' or pris- 
oners unable to perform the ordinary prison labor. 
When all the bones would be pounded, we would then 
be employed in and around the cesspool, mixing and 
carting manure, and at various other similar occupa- 
tions. 

" I made application to both Governor and doctor for 
removal from this bone-breaking to some more congen- 
ial task, but I would not be transferred to any other 
labor. After completing a term of my imprisonment 
which entitled me to a pint of tea in lieu of ' skilly ' 
for breakfast, 1 was then removed to a hard-labor 
party, as, owing to my being an invalid, or ' doctor's 
man,' I could not claim the privilege of this slight 
change in diet without becoming attached to some hard- 
labor party, — invalids, or ' light labor men,' not being 
allowed tea at any stage of their imprisonment. I very 
willingly consented to a heavier task, in order to be re- 
moved from the abominable bone-shed, in which I had 
worked and sickened during the summer. 

" My employment after this was various : drawing 
carts, bogies laden with stone, slates, etc., delving and 
shifting sand, at which work I was in the habit of 
using a pick and shovel (though not, I must fairly 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 37 

admit, compelled to do so) , as the extreme cold made it 
necessary in order to keep mj^self from being con- 
gealed. I was next employed in winding up stones at 
an iron crank, during tlie building of an additional wing 
to the prison ; and this was, beyond doubt, the heaviest 
work to which they could have put me. A crank party 
consisted of four men, and my being one of the four , 
compelled me to perform as much work as either of 
the others, as the task would fall heavier upon them 
otherwise. This employment was occasionally diversi- 
fied with ' spells ' at mortar-making, water-carrying 
for same, sand-shifting, cement-making, and various 
other jobs, among which carrying slates to the roof of 
the new prison was one — not, of course, up a ladder, 
but by a steep incline. 

" 1 may remark in passing, that three prisoners lost 
their lives while this building was going on, and, in my 
opinion, those accidents were attributable to the igno- 
rance of scaffolding arrangements shown by the ward- 
ers appointed to superintend them. Inquests were 
held, of course, inside the prison ; but I never learned 
that an}' intelligent prisoner was called upon to give 
evidence, nor what verdicts were given by what the 
prisoners in Dartmoor called ' the standing jury.' I 
may add also that my friend, Mr. Chambers, fell from 
a scaffolding at the same building, and, on the principle 
that ' a man who falls deserves to be kicked for falling,' 
he was taken to the punishment cells instead of the in- 
firraar}-, and turned out to work again the following 
day. When my services as a mason's laborer were 
no longer required, I was once more put to the old job 
of stone-breaking, and remained thereat from about 
the latter part of 1873 until August, 1876. 



38 tlFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

" During the long winters of thoso years I was thus 
employed in a part of the prison yard known to be the 
coldest place within the walls, where the north-east 
wind — so prevalent during Dartmoor winters — blew 
in my face, without my having the slightest shelter 
from its cutting blast, or any means of keeping my 
freezing blood in circulation except by pljing of my 
stone-breaking hammer. When snow had fallen dur- 
ing the night, I would have to clear it away from the 
heap of stones in the morning and smash away as 
usual. So excessively cold and long are the Dart- 
moor winters that during the past few j'cars the pris- 
oners have had to be supplied with small bags made 
of the same material as their clothing, by which to 
shield their hands from the frost-bite and chilblains. 
Without some such provision to protect them from the 
effects of the severe cold, little or no outside work 
could be done by the prisoners. 

" I made application to the Governor for some inside 
labor in winter time ; but all requests of mine for 
change of task were invariably refused, and I had to 
await unforeseen circumstances to effect what would 
not otherwise be granted me. An event of this nature 
saved me from a fourth winter's campaign amidst 
granite and snow ; but as a ' compensation ' for this 
relief it entailed very much heavier work, and caused 
me to be placed under special surveillance and located 
in penal cells for the remainder of my imprisonment. 
This event was what has been called ' the unconstitu- 
tional amnesty ' of Western Australia. 

"After this I was not considered sufficiently safe, as 
I could have been seen at my stone-breaking in the 
prison yard by any mischievous people who might 



UFB OF inCH.lEL DAVITT. 39 

hold anti-ticket-of-leave notions on my account. I 
was therefore removed to the prison wash-house, — a 
place securely situated in the very centre of the prison, 
and free from all apprehensions of a ' surprise.' A 
wash-house is a place where it might be thought I 
could not earn my ' skilly ;' but without boasting of 
having distinguished myself in the capacity of a 
' washerwoman,' or built a reputation in the art of 
bleaching, I can say, without fear of contradiction from 
the prison oflBcials, that my work there was the heavi- 
est of any prisoner employed in the wash-house. An- 
other prisoner and mj'self were told off to the wringing 
machine, in which linen, etc., for a thousand men, and 
washings for officers' mess and rooms, etc., had to be 
wrung each week, with flannels and sheets for same 
number once a fortnight and month respectively, in 
addition. M}^ assistant on this machine was changed 
every week, as men — able-bodied men — had been re- 
ported for refusing to remain constantly at such heavy 
labor ; but, as I was physically unable to wash the linen, 
I was compelled to turn the machine as ray principal 
occupation. The machine being made with a couple 
of handles, I had to turn as much as m}^ assistant, and 
very often more, if he proved an idle one. I was con- 
siderably' reduced in weight whfie at this emploj-mcnt 
(which lasted until my release on the 19th of Decem- 
ber) , from the amount of sweating it entailed, especially 
during the summer months, and the heavy nature of 
the work. 

" My weight a week after my liberation was but nine 
stone four pounds, including my clothes, or some eight 
stone ten pounds without — not, I think, the proper 
weight for a man six feet high, and at the age of thir- 



40 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

t3'-one. In addition Jo turning the wringer, I had to 
sort my share of the dirty linen each Monday morn- 
ing ; and singularly enough the infirmar}^ portion was 
part, of my share, and I had consequently to handle 
the articles worn by prisoners suffering from all man- 
ner of skin diseases and other disgusting afflictions. 
This will finish the necessarily brief account of my 
various employments in Dartmoor, and, with a descrip- 
tion of the daily searchings I was subject to, will 
conclude my narrative of ordinary treatment while a 
prisoner. 

" I will now briefly relate my exceptional punishment 
as a political prisoner, and adduce proofs that this 
treatment was more severe than that of ordinary male- 
factors, unmerited by my conduct as a prisoner, and 
therefore contrary to the prison rules I was compelled 
to observe to the very letter. Each prisoner is searched 
four times each day — Sunda}^ excepted — by the officers 
under whom he is employed, and liable, in addition to 
this, to be stripped naked, and subjected to a minute 
and disgusting examination, or, as it is more properly 
termed in prison slang, ' turned over,' whenever an 
officer wishes to do so. I was searched four times 
each day in common with other prisoners, and had in 
winter and summer alike to open my jacket and vest, 
take off my cap, hold out my hand at arm's length, 
and stand in this manner in the open air, and allow a 
warder to run his hands from my neck downwards 
over my body to satisfy himself I had nothing con- 
cealed upon my person. 

" I was also at regulated intervals taken with other 
prisoners into a part of the prison where we had all 
to strip in presence of each other and be minutely 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 41 

searched, but not compelled to strip bej'ond the shirt. 
This often occurred in the depth of winter, and I liad 
to stand in this plight while an officer was carefully 
examining every article of my dress, after having 
rubbed his hands over my body, and made me open 
m}- mouth to assure himself I had nothing contraband 
upon me. I was never exempt from any of these 
searchings during the whole of my imprisonment. 

" The charge has often been made against the Govern- 
ment that the Irish political prisoners were treated with 
greater severit}^ and subjected to more indignities, than 
ordinar}' malefactors, and both Ministers and Govern- 
ment organs have as often denied the truth of these 
allegations. I will allow facts to. substantiate the 
charge so far as my own treatment is concerned, and 
leave the public to draw the inference in the case of 
those who are still in prison. 

" From my arrival in Millbank, in 1870, until ray dis- 
charge from Dartmoor, I was classed and associated 
with the ordinary prisoners, placed on the same foot- 
ing with regard to diet and work, and had in every 
particular to perform the daily task of penal servitude 
as laid down by the prison rules. 

" A strict compliance with the requirements of these 
rules entitles a convict to certain privileges at stated 
intervals during his imprisonment, as regulated by the 
Penal Servitude Act, which came into force in Jul}^ 
1864 ; and such privileges are accordingly allowed to 
prisoners who strictly observe the conditions imposed 
upon them. There was no provision made in that act 
for the treatment of prisoners convicted for treason- 
felon}', or other offences arising out of insurrectionary 
movements, and consequently there is no clause in the 



42 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

prison rules specifying the punishment to be awarded 
to political prisoners, or the granting or curtailing of 
privileges in such cases. A political prisoner, there- 
fore, who is compelled to observe these rules in ever/ 
particular like other prisoners, and to undergo the 
same penal discipline, is as clearly entitled to all the 
privileges allowed by those rules as men who are con- 
victed for non-political offences, such as murder, theft, 
forgery, bigam3', etc. Such, however, has not been the 
case in regard to myself, and I adduce proofs to con- 
firm this statement. One of the most coveted rewards 
of good conduct in prison is the privilege of receiving 
visits from friends, at intervals of three, four, and six 
months, according to the class and time served. A 
prisoner who has not forfeited his claim to such a priv- 
ilege by any breach of discipline is as justly entitled to it 
as to his daily rations of food. Well, during my seven 
3'ears and seven months' imprisonment, I have been, by 
the admission of prison officials, a 'good conduct' pris- 
oner, and had consequently a right to a visit whenever 
I demanded one in accordance with the rules ; but from 
the day after my sentence until the day of my dis- 
charge, I was not allowed to see a friend or receive a 
visit from any one. 

" I made another effort while in Millbank to see 
some friend, and thinking that no possible objection 
could be raised against m}' seeing a lady, I tendered 
the name of one whom I was anxious to see, as she 
was a correspondent of my famil}' and a most intimate 
friend of my own. This application was also refused 
by an order purporting to come from the then Home 
Secretary, Mr. Bruce (now Lord Aberdare), to the 
effect that a visit from the lady I had named would 



IJFE OP MICHAEL DAVITT. 43 

not be granted. I was now convinced tliat I would 
not be allowed an interview with any of my friends 
under any conditions, and made no further application 
for the next few years. I complied with the prison 
rules in the mean time, notwithstanding my depriva- 
tion of the privileges such compliance entitled me to. 
Several of my friends had also made efforts to obtain 
leave to see me, but to no purpose. I renewed my 
application again in August or September, 1874, and 
was again refused, and no explanation of such refusal 
given. On the 24th of November, I once more en- 
deavored to see a friend, but the order for the visit 
was not forwarded, and I left prison on the 19 th of 
December, without being permitted to see a friendly 
face during the whole term of my imprisonment. 

" I may remark that one of m}' objects in seeking an 
interview with some of my friends was to have atten- 
tion drawn to the case of John "Wilson, who had been 
sentenced with me. Perhaps this was one reason why 
no visit would be granted. 

" Another proof of exceptional treatment. Ordinary 
convicts, when located according to class, were allowed 
to select a companion from the same ward to exercise 
with on Sunday. Mr. Chambers and myself were 
never allowed this privilege. "We could select ' com- 
panions ' from among thieves and murderers, but would 
not be permitted to even speak to each other at any 
time, Sundays or other occasions. "We made repeated 
applications to Governors and Directors to have this 
small boon allowed us, as it was allowed to others ; but 
to no avail. No explanation would be given us why 
we were thus deprived of what others enjoyed. 

"Another instance of unjust treatment is one which 



44 LITE OF MICHAEL DATITT. 

I have already touched upon in the particulars of my 
various employments. Applications for transfer from 
party to party are of ever^'-day occurrence in prison, 
and are invariably granted by the Governor, as pris- 
oners are entitled to change of labor when their emploj'- 
ments may be either too heavy or injuaious to their 
health, or when thoj can show themselves more capable 
of performing one class of work than another. Every 
application made by me for more suitable employment 
was refused, and I was invariably put either to labor 
that would throw as much work upon me as if I were 
able-bodied, or to some task — such as bone-breaking in 
a low shed by the prison cesspool in summer, or stone- 
breaking in the open air during the rigors of winter — 
which would insure punishment the most injurious to 
my health being inflicted upon me. No other conclu- 
sion than this is possible from the singularly harsh 
manner in which I was treated, while complying with 
the rules in every particular. 

" I have before remarked that in the labor of wash- 
ing and scrubbing my cell, polishing utensils, etc., 
there was no allowance made for my being deprived of 
an arm ; but I must admit that other prisoners simi- 
larly afflicted were treated in that respect in a like 
manner. This cell work, in addition to my ordinary 
labor, would tell more upon me than upon an able- 
bodied prisoner ; and, as it also subtracted consider- 
ably from the short time at the disposal of prisoners 
for repose from labor, reading, etc., it would necessarily 
take more time from me, owing to the difficulties I had 
to contend with. In order to squeeze the floor-cloth, 
with which I washed my cell twice a-day, I would have 
to sit on my stool, place my feet upon the rim of my 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 45 

bucket, then put the cloth round the hucket-handle, and 
twist it until the water was wrung out of it. As a gen- 
eral rule, I had only a few minutes to spare for reading, 
so much of my time being necessary to the keeping of 
my cell as clean as others. 

"In June, 1S72, I was sent to Portsmouth Prison, 
along with twent3'-nine other prisoners from Dartmoor. 
In cases of transfer from prison to prison, convicts are 
handcuffed, bj' one hand only, to a chain that runs the 
whole length of the number of prisoners, and passes 
through a ring in each man's handcuff. B}' this means, 
each convict has one hand at liberty to eat his food, 
attend to calls of nature, etc., if he is fortunate enough 
to be possessed of two ; and, if not, it is customary to 
substitute a body-belt for a handcuff, in order to give 
him the use of one hand also. No such consideration 
was shown to me. I was purposelj^ placed between 
two of the filthiest of the twenty-nine convicts, and had 
my wrist handcuffed back to back with one of them. I 
appealed against this ere I left Dartmoor, and requested 
a belt in lieu of a handcuff, or at least to be put at the 
end of the chain ; but neither would be granted. One 
of the two between whom I was chained was afflicted 
with mephitis, or stinking breath, and the other, I think, 
with scrofula. During the journey to Portsmouth, this 
latter one, to whose hand mine was linked, had an 
attack of diarrhoea, and I had to submit to the horrors 
of such a situation, as my hand would not be unlocked 
from his. All this, however, may have been through 
the pett}' malice of the chief turnkc}' in Dartmoor, and 
may not have been ordered by the then governor of 
that prison. 

"In Portsmouth prison I was placed on reduced 



46 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

diet, because I was incapable of performing heavy 
labor, such as barrow-wheeling and the like. Yet, at 
the task I was put to — " skintling bricks" — I did as 
much work as those who had two hands to labor with. 
I explained this to the medical officer, as a plea in 
favor of being allowed the ordinary prison rations, but 
I was told that the Sccretar}^ of State had ordered that 
ordinary diet should not be given to men employed at 
light labor, and that an exception could not be made 
in favor of me. 

" I am bound to remark, however, that the quality- of 
the food in Portsmouth was far superior to that of 
Dartmoor, and that I suffered very little from the re- 
duction in diet during m}' five weeks' stay in the former 
prison. While there, I was once reported for falling 
out of the ranks to see the doctor, through an attack 
of quins}'. I was not punished with bread and water, 
but I had to work for a couple of days without any 
food whatever, being unable to swallow an^'thing, and 
receiving neither treatment nor remedy for my indispo- 
sition. ^ 

"I was ordered back to Dartmoor again on the 16th 
of Jul}', 1872, and on this return journey I was accom- 
panied by a madman, or, as he would be termed in 
prison slang, a " barmy bloke." I was handcuffed to 
him, of course, and, while waiting for a train at Exeter, 
he managed to divest himself of most of his clothing, 
because he would not be allowed to ask people for 
tobacco. My journey back was not much pleasanter 
than the one coming awa3\ I have made this digres- 
sion from my exceptionally harsh treatment in Dart- 
moor, in order to show that in whatever prison I might 
be incarcerated the fact of my being a political prisoner 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 47 

exposed me to, rather than saved me from, the most 
inconsiderate treatment at th« hands of the prison 
officials. 

" But to return to proofs of my exceptional punish- 
ment in Dartmoor. 

" On one occasion (I believe it was in the latter part 
of 1871) I was ordered bj^ a warder to assist another 
prisoner in carrjing a tub that answered the purpose 
of a closet for eighty or ninety men, and, on my refus- 
ing to do so, I was taken to the punishment cells and 
kept there — though not on bread and water — for three 
days, until the doctor had inspected the tub and found 
that it was too heavy for me to carry. It was on that 
occasion I was told by the Governor that I was just 
like another prisoner, and that he could not ' make 
fish of one and flesh of another.' 

" During the whole of Easter week, 1876, I was con- 
fined to punishment cells, and underwent four days' 
bread and water, with deprivation of privileges of 
writing and class for two months, for simply refusing 
to substitute "sir" for "here" when answering my 
name to the assistant-warder in charge of the party to 
which I belonged. He had no other object in insisting 
upon this than to satisfy his vanity, unless prompted 
by some of his superiors to involve me in punishment 
in this manner. I had always been respectful in my 
language towards this fellow, though his ruCBanl}' con- 
duct, ignorance, and dirt}' habits were by-words among 
both officers and prisoners alike ; and, on the occasion 
of his reporting me, my conduct had not changed 
towards him in the least from what it had previously 
been. The prison rules require prisoners to be respect- 
ful at all times, but do not lay down specific terms to 



48 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT 

be used in addressing warders. Hence my punishment 
was nothing more than a gratuitous piece of petty- 
tyranny. 

" It is a rule in prison that a convict's punishment, 
over and above the ordinary penal discipline, is deter- 
mined by his conduct as a prisoner, and not by the 
nature of his offence. This rule is, generally speaking, 
followed by the Governor, if not by his subordinate 
officers, in dealing with convicts. Both governors and 
subordinates have reversed this rule in my case, I 
think, as I have already shown. Several instances 
more can be given. In addition to the same punish- 
ment I underwent with the other prisoners, I was sub- 
ject to closer watching and numberless other annoy- 
ances, neither authorized by the rules nor merited by 
my conduct. During the first winter I spent in Dart- 
moor, I used to find my cell rummaged and bed-clothes 
strewn about the damp floor several times a week, and 
generally upon wet days. J have often come into my 
seveu-foot-b3'-four cell, dripping wet, after drawing a 
cart about like a beast of burden in the winter's rain 
or snow, and with saturated clothes upon my back had 
to gather up m}' bed and bedding and put to right what 
had been disarranged for no other motive than to give 
me work to do during my dinner hour, and thus 
deprive me of whatever little pleasure I might other- 
wise enjoy. 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 49 



CHAPTER V. 

Kbtleased on Ticket-of-Leave. — Gkand Eeception in 
Dublin. — Sergeant McCarthy's Death. — Davitt 
VISITS Mayo. — His first Lecture in England. 

"Aud now with shouts and clapping, and noise of weeping 

loud, 
He enters through the river-gate, borne by the joyous crowd.'.' 

— Macaulay. 

On Wednesday morning, December 19, 1877, 
at 10.30 o'clock, as Davitt was turning tlie handle 
of the wringing-machine in Dartmoor Prison wash- 
house, a warder entered the room, and said, 
"Davitt, put on your jacket, and come this way." 
Mr. Davitt says : " At this time I was very busy, 
sweating, in fact, at my work, and I thought Mr. 
Ryan had come to visit me. I was taken to the 
Governor's office. He said to me, 'Davitt, on 
several occasions I have spoken to you about how 
good conduct in prison is rewarded, and I am 
very happy to say that the Secretary of State has 
taken your case into consideration, and I have 
now the pleasure of telling you that your good 
conduct has met with its reward. I have received 
a communication from the Secretary of State to 
the effect that you are to be discharged on a 
ticket-of-leave for the remaining portion of your 
sentence.'" 

It need hardly be said that the prisoner was 



50 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

rejoiced by this news. The Governor next turned 
to the warders present, and said, "Let him be 
photographed, and send him off at once." This 
was done promptly. The prisoner had a suit of 
clothes given him, <£3 put in his pocket, as well 
as the ticket-of-leave. He was taken to the rail- 
way station and sent off to London. "These," 
says Mr. Davitt, "were the circumstances attend- 
ing my release. I cannot pretend now to tell how 
high-spirited I felt at regaiuing my liberty. I re- 
joiced even in the muddy streets of London. I 
had spent seven years and seven months in jail. 
They had done their best during all these years 
to injure my health and to break my spirit, but I 
left prison as good an Irishman as I entered it." 

On coming to London he was met by. his 
friends, including the members of the Political 
Prisoners' Visiting Committee. The Chairman, 
Mr. O'Shaughnessy, M.P., heartily congratulated 
Mr. Davitt on his release, and expressed the hope 
that the other j^risoners would soon be free. Mr. 
Davitt thanked his friends and the committee for 
the cordial reception given him, and the sympathy 
so earnestly expressed by them at his regaining 
his liberty. These were the first sincerely kind 
words that had reached his ear for nearly seven 
and a half dreary years ; they acted as a healing 
balm, poured on his weary spirit. He again 
breathed the pure air of freedom, and was sur- 
rounded by sympathetic friends, the warmth of 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 51~ 

whose welcome brought blushes to his attenuated 
checks. 

Davitt spent the Christmas in London ; and, in a 
few da3's afterwards, on Saturday, January 5, 1878, 
he was joined by Color-Sergeant McCarthy and 
Private John P. O'Brien, both of whom were 
sentenced in 1866 to penal servitude for life, and 
were liberated on the day named. Corporal 
Thomas Chambers, who was undergoing a like 
sentence with McCarthy and O'Brien, was also 
released the week following. The four released 
prisoners set out at once to visit the land they 
loved so well, and for which they had suffered so 
much, and arrived in the city of Dublin, via the 
Holyhead steamer, on Saturday night, January 
12. A magnificent ovation awaited them at the 
Westland Row Station of the Dublin and Kings- 
town Railway. 

The following account of the reception of the 
patriots in Kingstown and Dublin is taken from 
the Freemaii^s Journal: — 

"The reception given by the patriotic citizens of 
Dublin to the released prisoners was in every way 
creditable to the Capital of Ireland. Such a scene as 
that which was witnessed on the night of their arrival 
literally defies description. From five o'clock, expect- 
ant crowds had begun to gather on the Kingstown 
Pier, and, as the time of the arrival neared, the masses 
of people began to solidify, until from one end of the 
Carlisle Pier to the other there was a dense crowd, 



52 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

which must have been composed of several thousands 
of people. 

" The following distinguished Irishmen were present 
from the Reception Committee : Messrs. C. S. Parnell, 
M.P. ; Major O'Gorman, M.P. ; John O'Connor Power, 
M.P. ; Richard Power, M.P., and John Ferguson, of 
Glasgow. 

" Shortly before six, the lights of the steamer were 
seen close to the pier ; and immediately the cheering, 
which was continuous for several minutes, and deafen- 
ing in its heartiness and intensilj', commenced, and 
was caught up from one to another, until it was sent 
almost to the railwa}' terminus. A bonfire flashed out 
on Howth, and a little later the signal was caught at 
Bray Head and Dalke}' Hill, and blazes on those 
heights acted as beacons of rejoicing to the country 
round. On the Club-House Pier, green lime-lights 
were shown, torches were lit on the Carlisle Pier, rock- 
ets were let otf, and, amid these illuminations, waving 
of hats, cheering, and the crashing of bands, the 
steamer came alongside. A rush was made on board 
and a comparative silence followed, broken again bj' 
cheers, which told that the four released men had been 
found. In a few seconds later they came ashore, and 
an enthusiastic hand-shaking followed. 

" First came Sergeant McCarth}', a pale, worn-looking 
old man, evidently in delicate health. He was most 
warmly received. Major O'Gorman and several others 
kissing his hand as they shook it. Then Michael Dav- 
itt, a comparativel}' young-looking man, with a heavy 
black moustache, followed. He had lost his right arm. 
After he had been greeted a delay occurred, and then 
O'Brien and Chambers quietly joined their companions. 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT, 53 

and to the four men then assembled Mr. Brennan read 
the following address, frequently interrupted by hearty 
applause : — 

" ' ADDRESS OF THE PEOPLE OF DUBLIN 

" ' To Messrs. Charles McCarthy, Thomas Chambers, John 
Patrick O'Brien, and Michael Davitt, on their Eelease 
from Lnprisonment, suffered for Ireland : 

" ' FELLow-CouKTKrMEN, — We approach you, on 
your release from the sufferings which you have for 
•many years so cheerfully and heroically borne for our 
country in the prisons of England, to offer you our 
warmest congratulations, to bid you, with all the fervor 
and affection of our hearts, welcome home to Ireland,- 
and to thank you for your courageous and uncompro- 
mising devotion to the National Cause. 

" ' Roman history reveres the tradition which tells 
of the heroic self-sacrifice of the patriot Marcus Cur- 
tius, who saved the city by casting himself into the 
yawning abyss opened in the forum. With a self- 
denying patriotism equal to his you have made an 
offering of life, fortune, and liberty, on the altar of 
your country ; and if by such sacrifices as yours her 
freedom has not been achieved, her honor has been 
saved, the manhood of her sons vindicated, and a fund 
of public virtue created amongst us which will vet re- 
deem and regenerate the land. 

" ' Mindful of this, and of all the horrors of penal 
servitude through which you have been condemned to 
pass, the capital of 3'our country rejoices in your lib- 
eration to-day, and stretches forth its hand to receive 
you with delight and gratitude. 

"'The pleasure which we feel, however, is dimin- 



54 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

ished by the recollection that some of your brave com- 
pauions are still held in captivit}' ; and we cannot 
conclude without expressing the hope that the}', too, 
may soon be restored to liberty. 

" ' "Wishing you every blessing and prosperity in the 
future, and assuring j'ou of the gratitude of all your 
countrymen, we again say to you from our inmost 
hearts, Cead Mille Failthe. 

"'Signed on behalf of Reception Committee — 
Charles S. Parnell, M.P. ; J. G. Biggar, M.P. ; John 
O'SuUivan, John Dillon, J. Taafe, Patrick Egan, 
Treasurer, James Care}^ ; Hon. Secretary, Thomas 
Brennan ; John Burns, Robert Woodward, R. J. Don- 
nelly', Daniel Curley, Edmund Hayes, J. Brad}'.' 

" The four released prisoners having got into arail- 
way carriage with some of their friends, Mr. Davitt 
read a repl}^ on behalf of himself and fellow-prisoners. 
V ■ " The demonstration of welcome was one of extraor- 
dinary magnitude and enthusiasm. For a full hour 
"before the express was dne in Westland Row, the ele- 
ments of a vast torchlight procession were gathering 
from all the ends of the cit}' in the surrounding streets. 
Bands of music, with flags flying, and trades' bodies 
marshalled behind, passed and repassed until they 
were lost in one great liviug mass, which overspread 
Westland Row and stretched out into Merrion Square 
and be3'ond. The evening being fine, the crowd of 
ordinary proraenaders was increased tenfold ; and by 
half-past six there was not an unoccupied square foot 
of space in Westland Row. More remarkable even 
than their numbers was the orderliness and good- 
humor of the people. The rough element that is apt 
to obtrude itself into popular assemblages after night- 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 55 

fall was almost entii-el^y absent. Women and j^oung 
children passed through the thick of the crowd without 
anno3'ance ; and, even where men were packed together 
in thousands within a space that should not have con- 
tained hundreds, there was nothing but cheerful words 
and a pleasant bantering daring their long wait. 

" A tremendous burst of cheering arose when the 
prisoners were recognized, and it travelled outside, 
until the street rang with cheers and welcoming music. 
A United States flag was waved over the carriage, and 
the enthusiasm of those who were nearest was posi- 
tively dangerous to the prisoners themselves, who are 
all of them in delicate health, and several of them 
marked with signs of prolonged and terrible suffering. 
So furious was the eagerness of the crowd to clasp 
hands with them that it was found hopeless to attempt 
a passage to the street on this side of the platform, 
and the expedient was adopted of releasing the travel- 
lers by the opposite door of their compartment, and 
smuggling them across the rails to the Ladies' Waiting 
Room, where the}' took refuge for nearly' half-an-hour. 
It is said that Sergeant-Major McCarthy fainted from 
excitement ; and it is certain that during the whole 
ordeal, the poor fellow showed signs of having passed 
through years of dreadful suffering. It was sevcii 
o'clock before a way could at last be cleared to the 
entrance-door, and then the rush was something 
terrific. 

" How the released men themselves managed to 
reach the carriage in the street outside without being 
crushed or trampled in the whirl, is amazing. It was 
nobody's fault, for evcry])od3" did his best to make way 
and keep order ; but the crowd was so densely packed 



56 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAYITT. 

that it was impossible for it to open or to move witli- 
out crush or confusion. The enthusiasm was very 
great. Mr. Parnell, M. P., was recognized within 
the station, and was heartily cheered. A stout bod}-- 
guard of young men managed at last, by almost 
superhuman efforts, to cleave a passage through the 
crowd by using their long wands horizontally as a kind 
of battering-rams, and in this way the released men 
were brought to a wagonette and mounted amidst a 
scene of terrific enthusiasm. The procession lay, all 
this time, in irregular segments in all the surrounding 
district, with hundreds of flambeaux flaming at their 
heads, and bands playing the national battle-music. 
Any enumeration of the component parts of the line 
was out of the question in the darkness, and with the 
density of the crowd that surged around the proces- 
sionists. Some eighteen brass and reed bands were 
crashing away in the line. 

"The trades' bodies mustered in great strength, and 
the general body of processionists was of vast extent ; 
while every street thej' passed through was thronged 
with thousands, who were literally innumerable. By 
the time the demonstration had taken full shape, one 
huge mass of human beings covered above a mile of 
streets. Several thousand torches blazed in knots of 
about a hundred here and there ; and what with the 
movement of those enormous crowds, the deafening 
sounds of cheers and martial music, and the glare of 
all the torches, the scene v/as one of extraordinary im- 
pressiveness. At College Green the processionists 
cheered as they passed the Grattan statue, and the 
prisoners, as the}' went by in the wagonette, pointed 
silently to the old Parliament House. At Cork Hill 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 57 

another vast section of processionists from the Thomas 
Street district joined the line, and at this time the 
entire of Dame Street, Parliament Street, and Capel 
Street were covered over with people, illnminated by 
thousands of torchlights. The procession took three 
hours in its progress by Dame Street, Parliament 
Street, the southern quays, Carlisle Bridge, Sackville 
Street, Henry Street, Mary Street, alid so bj-- Capel 
Street to the European Hotel, Bolton Street. The 
entire roadway in front of the hotel was densely 
packed. In all the windows and elevated positions 
around crowds assembled, and the enthusiasm and ex- 
citement that prevailed were such as have seldom been 
witnessed in Dublin. A perfect storm of acclamation 
rent the air when it was known that the procession w?s 
near, imd when the carriage containing the released 
prisoners crept through the narrow portion of the 
street leading to the open carriage-way facing the 
European, the impatience of the crowd made it almost 
a physical impossibility that a passage could be made 
for the procession, the first portion of which arrived 
shortly before nine o'clock. In one of the large rooms 
Dr. G rattan, a well-known advocate for national inde- 
pendence, was entertaining some friends at dinner, and 
a motion was at once made to lift the released prison- 
ers from the street into his apartment. O'Brien was 
lifted up first. The scene inside the hotel was of a 
most exciting character ; the wringing of hands, the 
congratulations, and the cheers of welcome of which 
the prisoners were the objects surpassed description ; 
and when McCarthj' was lifted from the street to the 
window, the excitement of the moment, and the ex- 
liaustion of the day seemed to tell upon him verj'- 



58 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

much. He was placed on a couch, in a fainting condi- 
tion, and was quite unable to give utterance to his 
acknowledgments. The other released prisoner was 
also raised on the shoulders of the crowd, and passed 
through the windows. Davitt was brought in b}' the 
chief entrance to the hotel. 

" Mr. Leah}', a local Nationalist, addressed the 
people from the windows, and was followed b}' some 
other gentlemen. Loud cries were given for ' a speech 
from the prisoners,' and ultimately Mr. O'Brien came 
forward, and addressed a few words to the multitude. 
Several members of Parliament called on the released 
patriots during the evening. The immense crowd 
remained outside the hotel for some hours, and dis- 
persed in the most peaceable and orderly manner, little 
thinking that in a couple of da^'s one of the men, in 
whose honor they had made such an imposing demon- 
stration, would be alike beyond the thanks and con- 
gratulations of the Irish people, and the torments of 
the British Government." 

A sad event, which threw a gloom over the joy- 
felt by the Irish people at the prisoners' re- 
lease, and their arrival amongst them in Dublin, 
occurred two days afterwards. The four ex- 
prisoners bad been invited by Mr, Charles 
Stewart Parnell to breakfast with him in Mor- 
risson's Hotel. On arriving at the hotel they 
proceeded upstairs ; and, after a few minutes' con- 
versation, McCarthy was observed to grow deadly 
pale and totter across the room. Davitt was the 
lirst to notice him and rushed to his assistance ; 



LIFE OF anCHAEL DAVITT. 59 

poor McCarthy was laid on a sofa, where Cham- 
bers and O'Brien supported his head. Davitt, 
with admirable presence of mind, did all he could 
to revive the sinking patriot, while Mr. Parnell, 
Mr. John Dillon, and some other gentlemen stood 
around, sad spectators, unable to give relief to the 
dying man. All efforts proved unavailing ; in a 
few moments the noble spirit of the martyred 
soldier passed away beyond the reach of the 
British tyrant who, for twelve weary years, had 
tortured it by all the means that hate or devil- 
ish ingenuity could devise, in an English convict 
prison. Poor McCarthy was no morel Worn 
out by physical starvation and mental agony, the 
sense of freedom was too strong for him, and he 
succumbed. The scene around the remains was 
one of intense sadness. O'Brien raved in his 
grief; while Chambers, whose nervous system 
had been shattered during his twelve years' im- 
prisonment, had to be taken away ill. Davitt, 
who felt the blow as keenly as the others, never 
lost his strength of mind, which came to the aid 
of all ; he asSumed the management of affairs 
connected with the mournful event until the ger- 
mination of the obsequies. 

On January 16, an inquest was held on the 
body of Sergeant McCarthy, and his fellow- 
prisoners were examined as witnesses. They 
testified that he had been most severelj' treated 
for years in Chatham Prison. He had com- 



60 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

plained of his heart, and stated that if he died 
in prison the Governor would be his murderer. 
The jury gave a verdict of death from heart 
disease, accelerated by the treatment he received 
in prison. Tlie announcement of the verdict was 
received with loud manifestations of concurrence 
by those who were present. 

On Sunday, January 20th, 1878, the funeral of 
Charles McCarthy took place in Dublin. He was 
buried in Glasnevin, and it is estimated that sixty 
thousand persons followed the remains to the 
cemetery in procession, while two hundred thou- 
sand were in the streets to express a common 
sorrow. There were forty bands in the proces- 
sion, the largest seen since the burial of Daniel 
O'Connell. The other released prisoners were 
among the principal mourners. It was a wonder- 
ful popular demonstration. 

Davitt remained for nine or ten days in Dublin, 
to rest after the fatigue and excitement through 
which he had just passed, and then went down to 
Mayo to visit the scenes of his childhood's home. 
When it became known that he was in the county, 
turf bonfires blazed on the hills, to welcome him 
back to the grass-grown spot where once stood 
the happy home from which landlord tyranny had 
driven him and his family, to seek a living among 
strangers, in a strauge land. Bonfires blazed, 
processional torches were lit, and music floated 
through the air to welcome back a man who had 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 61 

doiio a patriot's work for his country, aud who 
had suffered for having done it. 

Little was it then thought that shortly after- 
wards, on those same Mayo hills, Michael Davitt 
was to kindle a blaze in the breasts of his country- 
men, which was destined to destroy forever the 
landlord power that had torn him, and thousands 
like him, from peaceful homes in the land of their 
love and hope, — the land which God had given 
them, but of which man had robbed them. 

Enthusiastic receptions were given the patriot in 
Castlebar, Balla, Westport, and Ballina. Torch- 
light processions illumined the streets, and the 
entire people gave a grand and unanimous verdict 
slightly at variance with that given nearly eight 
years previously by the English "Twelve" and 
the British Government. The verdict of the 
former was that Michael Davitt was a patriot, a 
martyr, a hero ; of the latter, that he was a con- 
spirator, a traitor, and a felon. Well, we suppose 
Davitt was satisfied with the verdict of his coun- 
trymen, and cared little for the opinions of Ire- 
land's enemies. His welcome from the warm- 
hearted people of the West "Was such that the 
"Irish Government" in Dublin Castle took note 
of the event ; and when the fuel-famine visited 
that section, a year later, on Chief Secretary 
''Jimmy" Lowther being appealed to for aid, he 
replied that, — "They could find plenty of turf 
not long since to give bonfire receptions to a 



62 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

released convict." After a brief stay in Mayo, 
Mr. Davitt returned to Dublin, and from thence 
went to London, accompanied by Chambers and 
O'Brien. The three released prisoners were cor- 
dially received, and shown over the House of 
Parliament by Messrs. Parnell, Biggar, O'Connor 
Power, Redmond, and Chevalier O'Clery. It was 
a novel sight to see men who so recently wore 
the broad arrow on their party-colored convict- 
jackets received as honored visitors in the House 
of Commons. The evidence given by Davitt and 
his companions, at the inquest held on Sergeant 
McCarthy's remains, as to the cruel treatment 
to which he and the other political prisoners had 
been subjected in prison, awakened intense sym- 
pathy for the released men and for those who 
were still enduring its rigors, and great indigsia- 
tion was expressed against the inhuman system, 
and the government that permitted it. Davitt 
was not slow to take advantage of the oppor- 
tunity presented, to turn the feeling in favor of 
the release of the men still held in prison. 
O'Connor Power conducted the ex-prisoners to 
a private room in the Parliament House, where 
they wrote out statements giving the details of 
sufferings endured and the treatment to which 
they had been for years subjected ; and showing 
that such had broken down McCarthy's health and 
caused his death. This was the record of prison 
horrors so well told by Michael Davitt in a previ- 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 63 

ous chapter, and which was mainly instniniental 
in procuring the release of Robert Kelly, O'Meara 
Condon, and the other three men some time after- 
wards. O'Connor Power presented the statements 
made by Davitt and his companions to the Home 
Secretary, and asked to have them printed. This 
was of course refused, as the Government did not 
want to place on record against itself such a ter- 
rible indictment. He and Davitt, therefore, had 
them printed in pamphlet form and circulated. 

During his long imprisonment, Davitt made a 
careftd study of the present condition of Ireland, 
and her dreary past history, and in his solitary 
hours of thinking he discovered the root of the 
disease that was eating away the life of the nation 
for hundreds of years, and the cure that should 
be applied. The land question was the ulcer, 
and the remedy is being adopted to-day by the 
Irish National Land Lea2:ue. 

After this, Mr. Davitt, accompanied by Corporal 
Chambers delivered lectures in the north of Eng- 
land, in Scotland, and Ireland, on the treatment 
of Irish Political Prisoners. He devoted himself 
to the task of working for the release of the men 
in prison, and was unremitting in his exertions 
in their behalf. He eslisted the sympathies of the 
English and Scotch people, and worked hard 
until his efforts were crowned with success. His 
first lecture was delivered in St. James's Hall, 
Piccadilly. It being the first public appearance 



64 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

on the lecture platform of a man who has since 
become famous we give the announcement entire : 



ir^isK::M:E:Kr!!! 

A MEETING WILL BE HELD IN ST. JAMES'S HALL, 

PICCADILLY, 

On SATURDAY, the dth MARCH next, 

For the purpose of dh-ecting Public Opinion to the 
subject of the treatment of the 

IRISH POLITICAL PRISONERS. 

Mr. Michael Davitt, one of the lately released 
prisoners, will give 



John O'Connor Poweu, Esq., M.P., will take the Chan-, 
and the foUowing M.P.'s have promised to attend : 

Lord Francis Conyiigliam, Mitchell Henry, C. S. Parnell, 
J. G. Biggar, T. Earp, D. Davies, John Barron, J. W. Pease, 
A. M. Sullivan, Dr. Ward, J. D. Hutchinson, E. Dwyer Gray, 
G. H. Kirk, Keyes O'Clerj', Joseph Cowen, Major O'Gorman, 
Sir Joseph N. McKenna, Bart. ; also Messrs. Chambers and 
O'Brien, late Political Prisoners. 



The Chau" will he taken at 7.30 o'Clock. 



Robert Kelly was released . in the following 
August, in a dying condition. On Saturday 
morning, August 3d, at about eleven o'clock, 



LTtT3 OF UnCnAEL DAVITT. 65 

Captain Barlow, the Governor, Mr. Hackett, and 
Chief Warder Murphy, went to Kelly's bedside in 
the prison "hospital," Mountjoy prison, Dublin. 
Captain Barlow acted as spokesman, and said: 
"Kelly, I have come to you with news that will 
not be altogether unpleasant, and I hope you will 
hear it without allowing your excitement to get 
the better of you. I have brought 3'ou the free 
pardon of His Grace, the Duke of Marlborough, 
on the usual conditions of a ticket-of-leave." The 
news came like a thunderbolt upon the prisoner, 
Avho, after recovering himself, said that he would 
not accept a pardon on such conditions. He 
added, that, from Avhat prisoners told him of a 
ticket-of-leave, he would always feel as though 
he draffojed a long chain about with him through 
life, which any policeman might trample on at 
pleasure, to drag him back again to penal servi- 
tude. 

Pie Avas right ! It. has proved so in Davitt's 
case ; he has been dragged back by the chain that . 
bound the Mcket-of-leave to the convict prison. 
The Freeman's Journal commenting on the condi- 
tion of Kelly on his release, and examination by 
Dr. Kenny, said : — 

"The plain fact is, these revelations cannot be any 
longer tolerated. No nation could maintain legitimate 
prestige which systematically repressed crime by crime. 
It matters not to what class of politicians a man liiny 
belong ; politics do not make us savage ; and we be- 



66 JJFE OF mCHAEL DAVITT. 

lieve no one will read the story of this wretched man 
without feeling that England is shamed and disgraced 
before the world bj' permitting men to be done todeath 
by a cold-blooded and relentless discipline." 

A notable event happened during the month of 
August, which we cannot pass over without men- 
tioning. It was the death, in raving madness, of a 
miserable renegade — a wretch, the events in 
whose political career are a blotch on his country's 
history, who was hated and despised by all honest 
Irishmen — the infamous Judge Keogh, one of the 
surviving worthies of " tJie Pope'i^ Brass Band ." Pie 
was staying near Brussels for his health, and went 
mad ; he made an attempt on the life of his valet 
with a razor, dangerously cutting him in several 
places. He died raving; and when the news of 
the tragic event reached Ireland, his obituary was 
chanted in curses by his outraged countrymen. 
He who had sent so many into British dungeons, 
with a string of vituperation tacked on to their 
sentences — for a- crime ( !) to which he himself 
had sworn allegiance ; but, like Iscariot, perjured 
himself, on receiving the "thirty pieces of silver" 
as the price of the betrayal of his country — met 
the reward he deserved, by a miserable death in a 
strange land. He went down 

" To the vile dust from whence he spraug, 
^ Unwept, unhonored, aud uu — " hung I 

as he deserved to be. 



MFE or MICHAEL DAVITT. 67 



CHAPTER VI. 

Davitt's First Visit to America. — Seed of the Land 
League Sown by Advanced Nationalists. — The 
New Doctrine Expounded by Davitt. — A National 
Platform Proposed. 

" O lovely isle beyond the waves, 
Ireland, our home! 
Where shamrocks deck our fathers' graves, 

Our childhood's home! 
In far, far climes we kneel in prayer, 
To Him who rules earth, sea, and air, 
To end thy bondage and despair, 

Ireland, our native home!" 

— R. D. Joyce. 

About the beginning of August, 1878, Michael 
Davitt made his first visit to the United States, 
his object being to bring back to IreLmd his 
mother and sisters, then living in Manayunk, P*. 
After his arrival, he wrote as follows to England, 
to his friend, Thomas Chambers : — 

"Manayunk, Philadelphla., August 15, 1878. 
^^ My Dear Tom, — You will be glad to bear that I 
found my mother in much better health than I ex- 
pected, after her long j-ears of trouble and anxiety. 
She appears tweut}' years younger since I promised to 
take her back to Ireland. IMy voyage was a very 
pleasant one; and so far I* like the countrj^ and the 
people I met very much. Philadelphia is the handsom- 
est city I ever saw. I only stayed a few hours in New 



68 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

York, as John [Devoy] and myself were invited to a 
picnic at a distance. ... I am to lecture in Philadel- 
phia on the 16th of September; subject, 'The Ireland 
of the present.' About the 20th, I am to give a 
'prison' lecture in New York, and I am to devote 
the proceeds to the relief of Daniel Reddin and John 
Wilson, — he who was tried with me. Health capital. 
Fear I won't get back as early as I expected, as I am 
requested to go out West, as far as San Francisco, and 
lecture. . . . Ever sincerely yours, 

" IVIlCHAEL." 

Invitations to lecture now came pouring in on 
Mr. Davitt. The Irish-Americans everywhere 
were anxious to see and hear him, so that he was 
kept busy on the lecture platform. 

Meanwhile Mr. Parnell, and the intrepid half- 
dozen Irish members who acted with him, had 
attracted much attention, and the admiration of 
their countrymen, by the obstructive tactics so 
successfully practised in the House of Commons. 
They were only a few ; but they demonsti'ated to 
the Irish people what even a few determined men 
could do, by clogging the wheels of legislation, 
and — as the champion of universal liberty, 
Wendell Phillips, says — "forcing John Bull to 
listen." The Home Rule organization, after 
years of unsuccessful agitation was languishing. 
Isaac Butt, the leader, and his immediate follow- 
ers having on various questions supported the 
Ministry, much dissatisfaction was caused, and 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 69 

people were beginning to tire of the frequent 
defeats in Parliament of the party, and to give up 
all hope of obtaining their demands through agi- 
tation. Parnell and his fellow-workers, however, 
struck a chord that reverberated pleasingly on the 
Irish ear ; he threw vigor and spirit into the fight, 
and infused a new soul into the dying Home Rule 
organization. He, and not Butt, was henceforth 
the leader. Parnell was the people's choice. 
The young Hercules, calm, determined, wise, and ^ • 
-energetic, revolutionized the old petitioning — 
beffo-inor — method, and beo;an to attack the en- 
emy's weak point. He first compelled Parliament 
to listen, then demanded, and now dictates the 
measures that Ireland will accept as final, or 
otherwise. 

On October 21, 1878, a Convention of Home 
Rulers met in the Rotundo, Dublin, and continued 
their sitting for three days. Mr. Parnell presided. 
A large number of delegates from England and 
Scotland attended. In the course of his speech 
Mr. Paniell said : — 

" I want the country to know its own mind above all 
things, and when the country knows its own mind I 
want it to be united in carrying out that mind, what- 
ever it is. Upon the question of policy and conduct, 
let Ireland make up her mind upon what she is going 
to do ; and when she has made up her mind, let her 
show her mind, and it must be obeyed ; but if she hesi- 
tates about her attitude, then I say you are lost, at all 



\ 



70 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT; 

events for some years. I don't believe in any countr}'-, 
or in an}^ cause, much less Ireland and Ireland's cause, 
being lost for any long time ; but you will lose it for 
some time— r- for some years. Anything that has been 
gained, has been got by good luck rather than b^- good 
management. I said when I was last on this platform, 
that I would not promise an^'thing by parliamentary 
action, nor anj' particular line of policy ; but I said we 
could help jx)u to punish the English, and I predicted 
that the English would very soon get afraid of the 
policy of punishment. Well, they did not stand that 
process of punishment very long last session — they 
stood it for about four months. They tried every plan 
and every method to get over us, and we beat them. 
The}' gave us the last two months of the session all to 
ourselves, for Ireland. That was a thing they never 
did before, but I venture to predict that thej^ will do it 
again." 

Fie asked that help be sent the active party in 
Parliament, as otherwise nothing could be got 
from that body, and said, that if such did not re- 
sult, he and his friends would retire into private 
life as "that would be the only course open to an 
honorable man." An active policy was agreed on ; 
sixteen Irish members gave in their adhesion to 
the new programme, and it was agreed to contest 
all the seats occupied by Home Rulers who op- 
posed obstruction, and to make an open issue with 
Isaac Butt before the people. . 

While this change of front was taking place in 
Ireland, new seed was being prepared in America 



IJFE OF MICIIAEL DAVITT. 71 

to cast into the fiekl of Irish politics, which was 
destined to take deep root in a soil ready to re- 
ceive it ; to spring into life and spread its roots 
and branches all through the land ; to blossom 
into Tpie Irish National Land League, and ren- 
der the fruit of Peasant Peopkietorship. 

Michael Davitt's busy brain was at work. He 
was in frequent consultation with one of Ireland's 
noblest and most daring sons, John Devoy ; with 
one of her most successful revolutionary chiefs, 
John J. Breslin — the man who accomplished the 
two great actions, of liberating James Stephens 
from his Dublin prison, and the military pris- 
oners from the convict prison of Fremantle, in 
Western Anstralia — and with others of ability 
and keen foresight. The result was, that about 
the end of October, immediately after the Home 
Rule Conference had closed its session, the leaders 
of the advanced Irish Nationalists in America 
cabled from New York "to Mr. Parnell and his 
political friends," the following proposal of co- 
operation on the conditions mentioned. The 
despatch, however, was to be submitted to a 
number of representative Nationalists in Dublin 
for their approval, before being presented to Mr. 
Parnell. It was as follows : — ^— 



"The Nationalists here will support you on the 
followiug conditions : — , 

' Firsts Abandonment of the federal demand, and 



72 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

substitution of a general declaration in favor of self- 
government. 

' Second, Vigorous agitation of tlie land question on 
the basis of a peasantry proprietary, wliile accept- 
ing concessions tending to abolish arbitrarj- eviction. 

' Third, Exclusion of all sectarian issues from the 
platform. 

' Fourth, Irish members to vote together on all im- 
perial and home questions, adopt an aggressive policy, 
and energetically resist coercive legislation. 

' Fifth, Advocacy of all struggling nationalities in 
the British Empire and elsewhere.' " . 

The seed was sown by electricity ; we see to-day 
the blossom ; the fruit is ripening. 

A new Irish national movement that could em- 
brace on a common platform all organiz^l bodies 
and the whole Irish race — was born ; it has since 
grown to immense proportions, and has the sup- 
port of all classes of Nationalists. It has not yet, 
however, grown to its full proportions, but it is 
rapidly developing, and is to-day strong enough 
to withstand the shock of British coercion without 
being badly damaged by the encounter. 

Davitt now began in earnest the task of spread- 
ing the seed in America of the new Irish national 
movement. His lectures opened new ideas to the 
minds of the thousands who came to hear him. 
His language was clear, liberal, and bold. He 
reconciled the extremists ever3'where he spoke to 
the new policy, and laid the foundation of the 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 73 

great American organization. The following 
masterly address on the "Future Policy of Irish 
Nationalists," which he delivered in Mechanic's 
Hall, Boston, on December 8, 1878, before his 
departure for Ireland, being his first great effort 
in oratory, and a clear exposition of the reasons 
for unity of action amongst all classes of Irish- 
men, we give in full : — 

" It would be difficult to conceive a position more ' 
unenviable than that in which an Irish Nationalist 
places himself when he attempts to review the past of 
his part}' in order to point out what he believes to have 
been rash or impolitic in its career. A criticism of the 
wisdom of an action that has failed or a line of con- 
duct which has been injudicious, is at once construed 
into disloyalt}' to the principles or party which ma^"- 
have prompted such action b}' a sincere but imprudent 
resolve. But when lie expresses himself dissatisfied 
with the nan-ow sphere of a policy which tends to ex- 
clude from National labor every one but a pronounced 
Separatist, and adds his belief that a change of tactics 
would turn the exertions of sincere Irishmen, though 
now pronounced Separatists, into the National cause, 
he is at once assumed to have ' forfeited his princi- 
ples,' and to be on the high road to West-Britonism. 

" In consequence of this proneness of the Irish mind 
to hasty and uncharitable deductions, men (who think 
while working in Ireland's cause) are deterred from 
condemning what they know to be injudicious, lest 
they should find themselves ostracized from its ranks 
for their anxiety to see it directed the surest way to 



74 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

success. Ill my humble opinion, a want of moral 
courage belittles a man far more than a deficiency in 
the physical article, and that real cowardice consists 
in dreading the sentimental consequences of an up- 
right, honest action. It -has ever been the practice to 
pander to the popular prejudices of our country, by 
hyperbolical eulogies ou everything Irish, and we have 
tlius become the spoiled children of struggling nation- 
alities, and, as a necessary consequence, backward in 
our political education as a people, as well as behind 
the progressive march of the age. Holding these 
opinions, I will endeavor to-night to show j'ou how we 
ourselves are to blame for past failures, and how 
essential it is, that the causes 'which led to such 
failures be guarded against in the futiu'e. The 
indestructibility of Irish nationalit}^ is no more its 
distinguishing characteristic, than is its past inappli- 
cabilit}' to the working out of its own success, or the 
winning of an advanced social and political position 
for the people who profess it. We can boast that hun- 
dreds of 3'ears of the worst rule that ever cursed a 
country has failed to crush it ; but can we say that Ire- 
land is to-day in a condition commensurate with the 
struggles and sacrifices of her sons on her behalf 
during the past seven centuries? I think not; and 
the "why and wherefore" of this fact is what should 
focus upon it the thought and studies of practical 
Nationalists of the present. That there has been an 
unmethodical application of energies, or rather, a reck- 
less waste of national strength in this long contest, is 
but too patent from a comparison between the position, 
social and political, of our country to-day, and that of 
other peoples who have struggled successfully against 



LIFE OF MICnAEL DAVITT. 75 

the same enera}'. The veiy strength of onr purpose 
and determination of our resolves were the means 
which invited defeat. We grasped at liberty in the 
intoxication of sincerity, and blindly discarded every 
other practical consideration. We "resolved," and 
" swore," and " determined " to avenge Ireland's 
vjrovgs! but took no essential method to win her 
libert}-. We were actuated as nuich b}' revenge as b}' 
patriotism, and received the penalty which follows the 
obeying of a passion instead of the '(^^ctates of a 
virtue. While recognizing that it was a war of races, 
Saxon against Celtic, we refused to shelter ourselves 
behind the ramparts of expcdienc}' or emplo}^ any of 
the many justifiable 'means hy which a weak people 
might utilize their strength ; and we therefore marched 
into the open plain inviting destruction. Instead of 
watching our enemy from behind the Torres Vedras of 
Ireland's imperishable national principles, and deter- 
mining our action by his weakness or strength according 
to the powers arra^-ed against him, we left our position 
exposed in order to challenge him to single combat, 
and we never marched to the Paris of the British Em- 
j)ire to see him relinquish his spoils or surrender his 
conquests. 

" No greater mistake could be made b}' Fenianism 
than the drawing of but a single line of distinction 
between a West Briton and the Irishman who accepted 
its programme of action as the safe, certain, and only 
means of winning independence. The assumption that 
all Irish -Nationalists were included in the Fenian or- 
ganization w'as a piece of disastrous folly, as it engen- 
dered a bitter hostilit}' to earnest Irishmen who only 
refused to follow a leader whom they did not know in 



76 LIFE OF mCIIAEL DAVITT. 

a movement which confined itself to a single class of 
their countiymen. Thus, a host of enemies were cre- 
ated where the reserve force of a real national move- 
ment should find strength and support. 

'•' Now, a fault-finder or critic has no claim to a fair 
hearing, unless he has something reasonable to substi- 
tute for or amend in what he condemns. I will, there- 
fore, with your indulgence, attempt to point out what, 
in my opinion, would place our national cause upon a 
stronger footing, and multiply its chances of success 
in the near future. 

" As I have freely^ensured the past policy of my 
own part}', it may liave created a suspicion in your 
minds that it was the paiiy itself or its principles, 
which I attacked under cover of a review of its past 
histor}'. I trust it will not need vay assurance to 
convince you of m}' belief in and adherence to the doc- 
trine of ph^^sical force, and that whatever other agen- 
cies, expedient, moral, or diplomatic, which I niay 
desire to see added to the factors at work in the 
national cause, I am convinced, that it is only the 
manhood strength of Ireland which can give the co\ip- 
de-grace to her enemy's rule over her. This belief 
does not exclude the employment of any of the other 
means I have just alluded to as an auxiliary to the 
final dernier ressort as being unjustifiable or antagonistic 
to the principles involved in the contest ; and it is on 
this ground I rest a claim for the utilizing of every 
safe and justifiable exjjedient in the working out of 
our country's social and political redemption. It is 
well, therefore, to look outside the National part}- in 
Ireland, to reconnoitre our friends or enemies, and see 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 77 

bow far the one can be counted upon and how much 
the other is to be dreaded. 

" The Irehmd of the present ma}- be divided into four 
distinct sections of political strife, presumably in her 
interest : the Nationalist or party of action, ' National ' 
Constitutional, West British, and neutral, or rather 
non-participant, Irishmen. 

" Take the first of these parties, which, on account 
of its being the custodian of Ireland's non-forfeited 
right to independence, should necessarily be the most 
powerful in numbers and influence ; j'ct we must admit 
that it is not so, when it is looked at either in the light 
of its recent past endeavors or from its present hold 
on the public mind of Ireland. But let it be disasso- 
ciated from the consequences of sincere but injudicious 
or premature action, and pitted against anti-national 
feeling in Ireland, and it possesses at once the unques- 
tioned representative sentiment of the Irish people, 
and outnumbers in its adherents all the other parties 
combined. The position which we occupy in the polit- 
ical world is, therefore, a singularly anomalous one ; 
for while our people are unquestionably national in 
their inward convictions, they exhibit in their external 
or public aspect a contradiction to that very fact. 
Hence the world either misunderstands or discredits 
our political aspirations. Now how is it that the 
Nationalist party is numericall}' the strongest in senti- 
ment and S3'mpath3% while not so in action? And 
why docs external opinion remain sceptical as to Ire- 
land's real desire for separation ? 

" To answer the first question, I will crave permis- 
sion to place m3'self in the position of a tiller of the 
soil in Ireland, — say one of Patten Bridge's victims, 



78 LITE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

on the barren slopes of the Gal tees. I will assume I 
have just reached the level of m}' mud-walled cabin, on 
the mountain side, after carrying a load of manure on 
my back from the plains below. I have seen the short- 
horns, and black-faced sheep, from England and Scot- 
land, grazing upon the rich land at the foot of the 
mountains, — the land which formerly belonged to my 
ancestors, and the produce of which is_ now fattening 
brute beasts while my six children are starving with 
hunger. I might be supposed to say, — ' How is it that 
I, who have done no wrong to God, my countrj', or 
society, should be doomed to a penal existence like 
this? Who are they that stand by and see the beasts 
of the field preferred before me and my family? I am 
powerless to do an3'thing but provide for the cravings 
of those whom God has sent to mj' care, and to relax 
m3" labor for a da}^ might be a daj-'s starvation to my 
little ones. If I go down to tbe castle and avenge my 
wrongs on the head of Patten Bridge, I am but injur- 
ing him, and not the sj'stem wliich enables him to 
plunder me. I must therefore refrain from an act 
which would see me die on the scaffold, and my chil- 
dren in the workhouse. If no one else will assist me, 
I am condemned to this miserable existence for the 
remainder of mj^ life. Who are they that have time 
and energy to take part in the political strife of the 
da}', and say they are working for Ireland and me? 
The Nationalist party tells me that when independence 
is won, I will no longer be at the mercy of an English 
landlord. That is like feeding my children with a 
mind's-eye-view of the dinner that will be served in 
Galtee Castle to-day. Yellow meal porridge is a more 
substantial meal than visionary plenty, and if the 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 79 

Nationalists want me to believe in, and labor a little 
for, independence, they must first show themselves de- 
sirous and strong enough to stand between me and the 
2')0ioer wldcli a single Englishman ivields over me. If 
they show the}' can do that, and thereb}- better my con- 
dition, they will convince me of their strength in Ire- 
land, and earnestness in my behalf; and it is not in 
Irish nature tq refuse a helping hand to those who 
assist another. Let them show that the social well- 
])eing of our people is the motive of their actions, and 
aim of their endeavors, while striving for the grand 
object ahead, and then the farming classes in Ireland 
will rall^' round them to assist in reaching that object. 
They look upon a man's existence in an abstract light, 
and think he should be moved in their cause without 
consulting that selfishness which is invariably the main- 
spring of human actions. God only knows how much 
I would like to fight for Ireland to-morrow if I could 
only see a chance of success, or had m}' wife and chil- 
dren in a similar position to that in which I am told 
the farmers' of France and Belgium have theirs ; but 
ever}' former attempt at success has failed, me and 
mine are still at the mercy of the landlord, and there- 
fore I can only give the Nationalists ni}' S3-mpathy and 
well-wishes, for m}' labor, time, and life, is neccssarj^ 
to the feeding of little Nora and the other children. 
The Parliamentarians promise to do more for me than 
any other part}', but they break their promises in 
"Westminster, and show as great an interest in Turkey'' 
as in Ireland. They are also at war with the National- 
ists, and consequently the government and the West 
Britons have it all their own wa}' over the vast major- 
ity of the Irish people. Me and the likes of me are 



80 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

told we have friends in all parties ; but we never are 
made to feel anything bat the power and influence of 
our enemies, — the landlords. I must bring up another 
creel of dung from the bottom of the mountain before 
mid-day, and then share my bowl of stirabout with my 
little ones. God's will be done, but it is a hard life lo 
lead in the Nineteenth centur}' ! ' 

" This is no exaggeration of the thoughts or attitude 
of the people who are compelled to stand aloof from 
political strife in Ireland ; and this vast class, recruited 
alike from the one instanced as well as from all those 
whose avocations and actions have their root in the 
virtue of the Jionest, selfish cares of social life, are within 
reach of the party of action, if the necessary steps 
are taken to enlist their assistance and co-operation. 

"Turning to the political aspect of Irish nationality 
as it is viewed from abroad, it is easy to show how we 
have been, and are still, discredited with practical 
earnestness in our opposition to English rule. We 
have flattered ourselves too long with the belief that we 
were assured of French and Amei'ican sympath}- in our 
contest with the enemy of our race, and that these and 
other countries would accept of our spasmodic struggles 
against a dominant power as proving the disaffection 
and determined opposition of a whole people, while 
' representatives,' municipalities, religious and other 
bodies, public men and public writers, were convincing 
them to the direct contrary. 'Tis true that periodical 
attempts at insurrection have shovvn that though our 
country is subjugated it is not reconciled to alien gov- 
ernment, willing to forfeit its national birthright ; but, 
convincing as all this may be to Irishmen, others will 
look upon our repeated risings in the light of past 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 81 

events, and speak of them in proportion to tlieir im- 
portance as loolied at from an external point of view, 
while weighing ns in the political balance of nationali- 
ties in exact accordance with the public spirit and 
political tendencies of our people of the present. The 
collective opinions of foreign nations, in sj'napathy 
with or indifference towards the Irish question, will be 
formed from its present phases, and not, as ive would 
desire, from past occurrences ; and therefore the less our 
national aspirations and convincing opposition to alien 
rule are manifested to the world by the public tone 
and attitude of our people, the less interest there will 
be taken and sympathy felt by the world in our cause. 
Our connection with the past of Ireland — the inspira- 
tion we draw from its history-, and the events therein 
recorded — must influence, of course, our line of action 
in the working out of the political destin}^ of our father- 
land ; but our glorious past will not win for us one 
iota of S3'mpathy from outside the Irish race bcj'ond 
what is demanded bj' the consistency of such actions 
with the object aimed at, and the practical manner in 
wliich the national desire for the attainment of that 
object is manifested. 

" When we appeal to mankind for the justice of our 
cause, we must assume the attitude of a united, because 
an earnest, people, and show reason why we refuse to 
accept of our political annihilation. We can onl}' do 
this by the thoroughness of purpose which should 
actuate, and the S3'stematic exertions which alone can 
justifj', us in claiming the recognition due to a country 
which has never once acquiesced in its subjugation, nor 
aDaudoned its resolve to be free. Viewing that countr}'- 
then, as she presents herself to-da}', the problem of her 



82 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

redemption may be put in this formla : Given the pres- 
ent social and political condition of Ireland, with the 
spirit, national tendencies, ph3-sical and nsoral forces 
of her people — together with the power, influence, and 
policy an-ayed against them — to indicate what should 
be the plans pursued, and action adopted, whereby the 
condition of our people could be niateriall}' improyedj 
in efforts tending to raise them to their rightful posi- 
tion as a Nation. 

" T confess to the difficult}' of solving such a problem, 
but not so much as to the putting it into practice if 
theoreticall}' demonstrated ; but 

(' ' Eight endeavor's not in vain — 
Its reward is in the doing; 
And the rapture of pursuing, 
^ Is the prize the vanquished gain.' 

" Let us see if we can discover a key, to the difficulty 
of the Irish question. I will assume that there are cer- 
tain matters or contingencies important to or affecting 
the Irish race which are of equal interest to its people 
(in-espective of what difTerencesof opinion there may 
be amongst them on various other concerns),— such as 
the preservation of the distinctive individuality of the 
race itself among peoples ; the earning for it that 
respect and prestige to which it is by right and in- 
heritance entitled, by striving for its improvement, 
physically and morally, and its intellectual and social 
advancement, revival of its ancient language, etc ; 
and that there are past occurrences and sectional ani- 
mosities which all classes must reasonabh' desire to 
prevent in future, for the honor and welfare of them- 



LiFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 83 

solves and country, — such as religious feuds and 
provincial antipathies. I will also assume that the 
raising of our peasant population from the depths of 
social misery to which it has been sunk by an unjust 
land system, would meet with the approval of most 
classes in Ireland, and receive tho moral co-operation 
of Irishmen abroad, as would also the improvement of 
the dwellings of our agricultural population ; which 
project, I also assume, would be accepted and sup- 
ported by all parties in Irish political life. Without 
particularizing any further measures for the common 
good of our people, for which political parties cannot 
refuse to mutuall}^ co-operate, if consistent with their 
raison cVetre as striving for their country's welfare, I 
think it will be granted that Nationalists (pronounced 
or quiescent). Obstructionists, Home Eulers, Repealers, 
and others, could unite in obtaining the reforms alread}'' 
enumerated by concerted action on and by whatever 
means the present existing state of affairs in Ireland 
can place within their reach. Such concerted action 
for the general good would necessitate a c«?ntri[)etal 
platform, as representing that central principle or 
motive which constitutes the hold and sui)plios the 
iuiluence that a country's government has upon the 
people governed. 

" A race of people, to preserve itself from destruction 
by an hostile race, or by partisan spirit and factious 
strife internally, or absorption by a people among 
which it may be scattered, absolutely' requires some 
central idea, principle, or platform of motives of action, 
by which to exercise its national, or race-individuality, 
strength, with a view to its improvement and preserva- 
tion. A people's own established government supplies 



84 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

this need, of course, but where, as in Ireland, there is 
no government of or bj- the people, and the dominant 
power is but a strong executive faction, the national 
strength is wasted, — 1. F>y the divide et impera policy 
of that dominant English faction ; 2. By desperate 
attempts to overthrow that power ; and 3. By hitherto 
fruitless agitation to win a just rule, or force remedial 
legislation from an alien assembly by means repugnant 
to the pride of the largest portion of our people ; while 
here, in this great shelter-land of peoples, the Irish 
race itself is fast disappearing in the composite Arner. 
lean. If, therefore, a platform be put forth embodying 
resistance to every hostile element pitted, or adverse 
influence at work, against the individuality of Ireland 
and its people, and a programme of national labor for 
jthe general welfare of our countr}' be adopted, resting 
upon those wants and desires which have a first claim 
upon the consideration of Irishmen, — such a platform, 
if put forth, not to suit a particular pai'ty, but to em- 
brace all that is earnest and desirous among our people 
for labor in the vineyard of Ireland's common good, a 
great national desire would be gratified, and an im- 
mense stride be taken towards the goal of each Irish- 
man's hopes. 

" Such a centre-composite platform would not neces- 
sarih' require any control over the organization of its 
respective partj'-adherents, nor need the resources of 
the party of action except when the final appeal for 
self-government should be made. All that it would 
demand from its individual elements would be such 
support as should make it superior in influence over 
the public life of Ireland to that which the English fac- 
tion wields to our disgrace and disadvantage to-day. 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 85 

Apart from the material good which would assuredly 
follow from such a platform being adopted, how inesti- 
mable would be the collateral advantages that would 
accrue from Irishmen acting together at last for some 
tangible common benefit to be conferred upon them- 
selves and their countr3' ! The gradual but certain 
sweeping awa^'- of West-British ideas before the ad- 
vance of a united national Irish sentiment ; the har- 
monizing' of the hitherto conflicting»elements in politi- 
cal parties ; the developing of our people's political 
education ; the creation . of a healthy and vigorous 
public spirit which would at once attract and challenge 
the attention of foreign opinion, and concentrate upon 
Ireland an international interest in a renaissant people, 
who can exert a powerful influence over the destiny of 
a declining empire, the prestige and power of which 
are obnoxious to rival nations. Then the immense 
impetus which would be given to the national cause b}'- 
the moral support of a S3'mpathetic participation in it 
by the vast Irish and Irish-American element in this 
country, b}' far the greater part of which has hereto- 
fore stood aloof from Ireland's struggles, in conse- 
quence of having no feasible plan laid before it, 
whereby its assistance and influence could be profit- 
ably employed in the same. 

"The difficulties in the way of such an united Irish 
public movement are to be found in the unreasonable 
prejudice and suicidal antagonism which exists between 
the two parties who each assume to be Ireland's bene- 
factor, — the Nationalist and the Irish-Constitutional 
bodies. This mutual opposition has weakened both, 
diffused bad blood among the community, increased 
the number of non-participants in the political life of 



86 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

the country, and strengthened the position of the coer- 
cive faction. Condemnation of Nationalist action by 
Irish Constitutionals is permissible only within the 
limits of a censure upon desperate, untimely resolves 
on insurrection, as their opposition is unjustifiable 
upon any other ground. 

"The Nationalist party is the guardian of their 
country's inalienable right to be mistress of her own 
destinies ; its records are those which tell of a nation's 
fight against the extermination of its people ; its mar- 
tyrolog}' is that of Ireland ; and all of which we can 
justly be most proud of in her history — her seven 
centuries' struggle against overwhelming odds for the 
highest ambition of a nation (independence) — is the 
platform of the party of action. Its very defeats have 
won victories for the Constitutionalists ; and the inten- 
sity of its earnestness has compelled remedial measures 
to be conceded to Ireland. As the Irishman who be- 
lieves that his country could not govern herself if 
politically isolated is too contemptibla to be noticed, 
the objection against the Nationalist party by its Con- 
stitutional opponent is belief in the improbability of 
final success, — and not antagonism to the object 
aimed at. 

" On the other side, the prejudice existing among 
Nationalists against Constitutional action is in propor- 
tion to the anti-National complexion which it assumes ; 
hence, Home Rule, from its being so much more nn- 
Irish in essence and scope, is looked upon with greater 
antipath}- than Repeal. Giving the Constitutionals 
credit, as in charit}' bound, for the best intentions, we 
must assume that they are actuated by tlie follov.iiig 
reasons and motives: — Believing in the impossibility 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 87 

of separation, they rely upon moral force as a means 
of advancing the interests of the country, and that 
they employ this means in the conviction tiaat it is the 
safest and most efficient plan by which an improvement 
of the people can be eifected, and their country bene- 
fited. When the acts of Constitutionals belie these 
motives, they become reprehensible ; but in their hon- 
est}" of conduct within the lines of their good intents, 
thej' are deserving of, and entitled to, recognition and 
tolerance as laborers in behalf of Ireland and its 
people. Thc}^ are as prominent in the political arena 
as the Nationalists, — more so, in fact, as the}- have a 
public policy to catch the public ear and eye. They 
have a following in Ireland which is at once powerful 
and influential, and cannot, therefore, be ignored. 
They have enlisted the support of the Catholic clergy, 
and count the middle class of the countr}' as belonging 
to their part}'. Since the passing of the ballot-bill 
they can appeal with more force to Irish voters, who 
no longer run the risk of eviction for opposing landlord 
nominees. This freedom from restraint in the exercise 
of the franchise among a remed3'-seeking people must 
logically impel them to look for redress, and men to 
champion their cause, in the safest, and, to them, most 
effectual means within their reach. 

" To these facts must be added still stronger ones, 
namel}', that, whether we Nationalists like it or not, 
Irish voters, as well as non-electors, will participate in 
elections, and interest themselves in their results. So 
long as the infamous Act of Union lasts, men will be 
sent to Westminster to represent or betray their coun- 
try, in exact proportions to the interest or indifference 
with which the whole Irish people look upon Parlia- 



88 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

mentananisiii. An indication of a national resolve 
to minimize the disgrace of a traitor-representation 
in an hostile assembler would curb the self-seeking 
place-hunters in the auction of their ' patriotism,' 
and themselves in St. Stephen's political mart. Hos- 
tility towards, or complete isolation from, parliamen- 
tary action by the Nationalist, will engender and 
encourage West-Britonism in Irish representation, and 
the world, which persists in looking at the Irish ques- 
tion through the medium of the House of Commons, 
will form its opinions on the wants and political ten- 
dencies of Ireland from the conduct and • utterances of 
her ' representatives.' The amount of national senti- 
ment and hostilit}' to alien rule exhibited in Westmin- 
ster b}'^ Irish members of Parliament will be to Russia, 
France, and America the gauge of the same sentiment 
and hostility in Ireland, where such members are 
elected. With the public car in Ireland, and the e^-e 
and attention of the world in the world's most con- 
spicuous assembly, liow are the Constitutionalists 
handicapped in a contest for party injluence with the 
Nationalists^ who have neither? Suppose the positions 
and advantages reversed in the last respect, at least, 
would the Nationalists be weaker and the cause of 
Ireland worse situated? I think not. 

" Having defined the relative positions and strength 
of the two great parties in Irish politics, no other 
conclusion can be come to but this : that until an 
understanding, base of public union, or common public 
platform, is established between them, the Executive 
faction, alias Castle government, will influence, direct, 
and domineer the official and public life of Ireland, 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 89 

and her people ' may whistle to the winds for self- 
government, or escape from the Saxon's control.' 

" Now let us put prejudices one side and honestly 
look at facts, and we will find that parliamentary 
action during the past few years has been trj'ing to 
clothe itself in the garb of honest}-, notwithstanding 
numerous instances of betra3'al of trust. Mr. Isaac 
Butt, in giving a Federal complexion to Ireland's con- 
stitutional holiday garment for Westminster parade, 
was endeavoring to make Imperial broadcloth out of 
Irish frieze, and he has become politically bankrupt, in 
consequence of failure. Abstract this disagreeable 
feature, together with the un-Irish conduct and treach- 
erj' of some of Mr. Butt's supporters, from the action 
of Irish members in the House of Commons during 
the past few years, and we will find a more national 
and determined stand taken for Ireland and against the 
government than at an}' former period in that asseni- 
bly. Seeing this, finding large classes of our people 
boasting of it, and recognizing the fact that the centre 
figui'C of this stubborn attitude in an hostile assembly, 
has, in the small space of four years, become the most 
popular and most trusted of Irishmen, is there not 
something good can come out of Nazareth, after all? 
If so, let us see how it can be increased. 

"For the present good of Ireland, and as a policy of 
exp(Hliency, I, as a Nationalist, could support the fol- 
lowing programme consistently with'my own principles 
and Ireland's present wants : — 

" * 1st. The first and indispensable requisite in a repre- 
sentative of Ireland in the Parliament of Eiii^land to be a 
public i)rofession of his belief in the inalienable right of 
the Irish people to selt-govcrument, and recognition of 



90 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

the fact that want of self-government is the chief want of 
Ireland. 

" ' 2d. An exclusive Irish representation, with the view 
of exliibiting Ireland to the woi'ld in the light of her peo- 
ple's opinions and national aspirations, together with an 
uncompromising opposition to the government upon every 
prejudiced or coercive policy. 

" ' 3d. A demand for the immediate improvement of 
the land system by such a thorough change as would pre- 
venff the peasantry .of Ireland from being its victims in 
the future. This change to form the preamble of a sys- 
tem of small proprietorships similar to what at i)resent 
obtaiiis in France, Belgium, and Prussia. Such land to 
be purchased or held directly from the State. To ground 
this demand upon the reasonable fact that, as the land of 
Ireland formerly belonged to the people (being but 
nominally held in trust for them by chiefs or heads of 
clans elected for that among other purposes), it is the 
duty of the government to give compensation to the land- 
lords for taking back that which was bestowed upon their 
progenitors after being stolen from the people, in order 
that the State can again become the custodian of the land 
for the people-owners. 

'''4th. Legislation for the encouragement of Irish 
industries, development of Ireland's natural resources ; 
substitution, as much as practicable, of cultivation for 
grazing; reclamation of waste lands; protection of Ii'ish 
fisheries, and improvement of peasant dwellings. 

" ' 5th. Assimilation of the county to the borough fran- 
chise, and reform of the grand jury laws, as also those 
afiecting convention in Ireland. 

" ' Gth. A national solicitude on the question of educa- 
tion by vigorous efforts for impi'oving and advancing the 
same, together with every precaution to be taken against 
it being made an anti-national one. 

*' ' 7th. The right of the Irish people to carry arms.' 



LIFE OF JNilCIIAEL DAVITT. 91 

" It will be objected b}' some, that to meddle in par- 
liamentary action, no matter bow honest, is contrary to 
Nationalist principles, and therefore censurable. No 
man likes to put his hands in pitch ; but if he is tarred 
and feathered for no fault of his own, and against his 
will, he must clean himself as best he can. The pitch 
of English rule on Ireland will not be removed by kid- 
gloved indifference and straight-laced, lofty patriotic 
consistency ; it is better to commence scrubbing it off 
wherever more can be otherwise added. It will be 
again objected that if a strong National party were 
sent to Parliament, and it succeeded in obtaining some 
remedial measures, the people of Ireland would be con- 
tented with what they would thus obtain, and cease to 
strive for separation. Granted that a portion of our 
people would ' rest and be thankful ' for a better con- 
dition of affairs than thej^ live under at present ; but 
would the Nationalist party be so ? If it would, it is 
not the real representative of Ireland's past ; if it would 
not, there is no earthly justification for an abstention 
from endeavoring to benefit even those that would 
accept the situation, when side by side with their 
social and political advancement would be that of 
those who would not take it as a final settlement of 
the question. 

" It is showing a strange want of knowledge of Eng- 
land's hatred and jealousy of Ireland to suppose that 
a government formed from an}- of the English parties 
would ever concede all that could satisfy the desires of 
the Irish people ; and to ground an apprehension upon 
such an improbable contingency is a mistake. 

"Again, the supposition that the spirit of Irish 
nationality, which has combated against destruction 



92 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

for seven centuries, onl^j- awaits a few concessions from 
its baffled enemy to be snuffed out thei'eby, does not 
speak highly for those who hold that opinion of its 
frailty. In my opinion, we may expect to hear no 
more of ' the cause ' when the genius of Tipperary 
shall carve the Rock of Cashel into a statue of Judge 
Keogh, and .Croagh Patrick sh.'jU walk to London to 
render homage to the Duke of Connaught. Every 
chapter of our history, every ensanguined iield upon 
which our forefathers died in defence of that cause, 
every name in the martyrology of Ireland, from Fitz- 
gerald to Charles McCarthy, proclaim the truth of 
Meagher's impassioned words : ' From the Irish mind 
the inspiring thought that there once was an Irish 
Nation self-chartered and self-ruled can never be 
effaced ; the burning hope that there will be one again 
can never be extinguished.' 

" With these convictions, and the consummation of 
such hopes predestined by an indestructible cause and 
imperishable national principles, Irish Nationalists 
can, without fear of compromising such principles, 
grapple with West-Britonism on its own ground, and 
strangle its efforts to imperialize Ireland. The popular 
party in Ireland has a right to participate in everything 
concerning the social and political condition of the 
country ; to compete with the constitutional and other 
parties who cater for public support, and stamp in this 
manner its Nationalist convictions and principles upon 
everything Irish, from a local board of poor-law guar- 
dians to a (by cirt?umstances compulsory) representa- 
tion in an alien parliament. 

" No party has a right to call itself National, which 
neglects resorting to all and every justifiable means to 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 93 

end the frighU'iil miseiy under which our land-crushed 
people groan. It is exhibiting a callous indifference to 
the state of social degradation to which the power of 
the landlords of Ireland has sunk our i:easantry to ask 
them to ' plod on in sluggish misery from sire to son, 
from age to age,' until we, b}^ force of party and party 
selfishness, shall free the country. It is playing the 
part of the Levite who passed by the man plundered 
by thieves. It is seeing a helpless creature struggling 
against suffocation in a ditch, and making no immediate 
etlort to save liira. If we refuse to plaj- the part of the 
Good Samaritan to those who have fallen among rob- 
ber landlords, other Irishmen Avill not. The cry has 
gone forth, ' Down with the land system that has 
cursed and depopulated Ireland ' ; and this slogan cry 
of war has come from the Constitutionalists. 

" In the name of the common good of our country, its 
honor, interests, social and political, let the two great 
Irish parties agree to differ on party principles, while 
emulating each other in service to our impoverished 
people. Let each endeavor to find points upon which 
thej' can agree, instead of trying to disoover quibbles 
whereon to differ. Let a centre-platform be adopted, 
resting on a broad, generous, and comprehensive 
Nationalism, which^will invite every earnest Irishman 
upon it. The manhood-strength of Ireland could then 
become an irresistible power, standing ready at its 
post, while the whole Irish race, rallying to the support 
^of such a platform, would cry — 

" ' We vmnt the land that bore us ! 
We'll make that want our chorus; 

And we'll have it yet, tho' hard to get, 
By the heaveus bending o'er us.' " 



94 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Why the Farmers were not Fenians. — Radical Eev- 

OLUTIONISTS AND THE LAND QUESTION. — ThE " IS EW 

Departure" Expounded and Defended by John 
Devoy, — The Abolition of Landlordism. 

" Wert thou all that I wish thee, — great, glorious and 
free, 
First flower of the earth, and first gem of the sea, — 
I might hail thee with prouder, with happier brow, 
But, oh! could I love thee more deeply than now?" 

— MOOBE. 

Ireland had lon2: wasted her national streii£:th 
by division of her people into parties, each striv- 
ing its own way to do the most good for their 
common country, but each opposing the policy of 
the other. In the beginning of Fenianism, James 
Stephens refused co-operation from leading Irish- 
men of Constitutional principles, such as George 
Henry Moore, John Martin and P. J. Smyth ; and 
later, the radical revolutionists refused to co-op- 
erate with the Homo Eulers. • "That there has 
been," says Mr. Davitt, in his lecture, "an un- 
methodical application of energies, or rather a 
reckless waste of Irish national strength in this 
long contest, is but too patent. We grasped at 
liberty," he says, "in the intoxication of sincer- 
ity, and blindly discarded every practical con- 
sideration. We 'resolved,' and 'swore,' and 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 95 

f 

'cletermined,' to *iivengo Ireland's wrongs, but 
took no essential method to win her liberty. . . 
We refused to shelter ourselves behind the walls 
of expediency, or to employ any of the justifia- 
ble moans by which a weak people might utilize 
theii- strength, and we therefore marched into the 
open plain inviting destruction." 

The Irish farmers and land-holders, as a class, 
were not engaged in the Fenian movement, and it 
is well known that no Irish movement can succeed 
without the co-operation of this body. Why were 
not thefarmers in the Fenian movement, or in the 
revolutionary organization continued since that 
time? Mr. Davitt shows that the Constitution- 
alists promised more to the farmer than the Kevo- 
lutionists. The latter told him that when Ireland 
is free, he would own his land ; this appeared 
rather a far-off benefit and for which he would 
have to risk life and property. The Constitu- 
tionalists said they would compel England to 
make land laws that would give him a right to his 
farm, and a means to bring up his children in a 
better manner ; this appeared a more immediate 
benefit, and there was little risk in supporting an 
open agitation. A national movement, therefore, 
that would adopt a platform, broad, liberal, and 
comprehensive, on which all shades of political 
opinion could unite, and that would offer redress 
and security to the farmers, was much needed, and 
the Irish radical Eevolutionists in America were 



^1 



J* 



96 » LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

the first to make the overtures which have been 
since crowned with almost unhoped for success. 

In the beginning, much opposition was given 
to " the-^JS[ew Departure "as it was called. The 
Dublin Irishman condemned the idea that patriots 
should vote for members of Parliament, and ridi- 
culed the presence of a Nationalist in Wesminster. 
The "Executive of the I. E. B.," or a body call- 
ing itself by that name — for most certainly it W'as 
not the "Supreme Council" of the I. E. B. — 
issued a manifesto condemning the " New Depart- 
ure;" and James Stephens, who had recently 
^ .arrived from Paris, in an interview with a reporter 
'^ in New York in February, '79, on being asked 
whether the " New Departure " would not take 
the place of the Home Eule movement, and keep 
the Irish people's minds in the groove of constitu- 
tional agitation and action, replied : "Not at all ; 
this New Departure has foiled. It never could 
succeed. The Home Eule movement sprung up 
after the defeat of the Fenian physical force move- 
ment at that time, and Nationalists joined it be- 
cause, temporarily dispirited by this failure, they 
hoped such a movement might accomplish some- 
thing. In this they have been wofully disap- 
pointed, and the fall of the Home Eule party rang 
the death knell of constitutional agitation among 
Irish Nationalists." Such has not proved to be the 
case, as subsequent events have shown. 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 97 

When sufli men as Davitt, Devoy, and Bresliii 
engage in a project of this kind, tiiey do not do 
so to fail easily ; they promised the co-operatiou 
of the revolutionary party on certain conditions. 
We see how they have verified that promise. 
While Davitt showed the revolutionists the solid 
and sensible reasons why they should for once 
join in a constitutional attempt by the whole 
people, to achieve redress of wrongs which might 
by this means be attained, that the whole farming 
class of Ireland could be woke up to a proper 
patriotic feeling, and won over to the national 
cause, Devoy ably mapped out the plan of action 
to be pursued, and defended the policy of the 
"New Departure" in the following able and 
corapfehensive communication, published in the 
Dublin Freeman'' s Journal, which circulates all 
over Ireland. This was the first great impetus 
given to the new movement. Such an emana- 
tion from a man oi proved patriotism, of sin- 
cerity, honor, and ability, had a wonderful effect 
both in^Ireland and in the United States, where 
it was shortly afterwards re-published. It efiected 
the object for which it was written. We give 
the letter in full as it appeared in the Freeman^ 
as the opening cleared by Mr. Devo}' for the great 
Land League movement, which speedily followed, 
should never be forgotton by his fellow-country- 
men : — 



98 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

\_ " New York, Dec. 11, 1878. 

" Tb the. Editor of the Dublin Freeman. — Sir: 
The frequent mention made of m}' name in the Irish 
press in connection with the so-called ' New Departure ' 
proposed by a portion of the Irish National party, and 
the vQvy serious errors which have been committed in 
interpreting the scope and meaning of that proposition, 
must be my excuse for obtruding m3'self on the atten- 
tion of the Irish public. As the Free.'m.an has pub- 
lished so much in connection with thi controversy, I 
hope 3'ou will enable me to state the case from the 
standpoint of those responsible for the original propo- 
sition. 

" The question whether the advanced Irish National 
part}^ — the i)arty of Separation — should continue the 
polic}' of isolation from the public life of the country 
which was inaugurated some twent}' years ago by 
James Stephens and his associates, or return to older 
methods — methods as old, at least, as the days of the 
United Irishmen — is agitating the minds of Irish 
Nationalists on both sides of the Atlantic just now ; 
and certainly no small incident has aroused such wide 
discussion in Ireland for man}' a da}-, as the publica- 
tion of the views of the exiled Nationalists resident in 
New York on the subject. This shows conclusively 
the importance of the action proposed. All intelligent 
Irishmen feel that the entrance into the every-day 
political life of the countrj' of a large class of men with 
strong opinions and habits of organization, but who 
have hitherto held aloof from it, or only acted on rare 
occasions when a principle was considered at stake, 
would be an event that would largely influence the future 
of Ireland. The eagerness with which the subject has 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 99 

been discussed b}' all parties would prove this if it were 
not otherwise sufficientl}' evident ; but, as might be ex- 
pected, much difference of opinion exists as to the 
direction that future would take. Almost every news- 
paper in Ireland which has written on the subject, 
almost every man who has expressed his opinion, has 
done so from a purely partisan standpoint. There 
have, it is true, been notable exceptions, and on the 
whole, the reception of the proposals has been encour- 
aging to the proposers. 

" As it is a question of public polic}'', to be carried 
out, if adopted, within the limits of existing law, it can 
bear the fullest discussion. In fact, the more it is 
criticised the better, provided the criticisms be based 
upon actual facts — the propositions made and the 
views expressed by the proposers — not on data sup- 
plied by the fancy of the critics, or phantoms of sinister 
motives conjured up by diseased imaginations. Fair 
and free discussion of the public policy proposed for 
the acceptance of the National party by men who cer- 
tainh' have a right to their opinions and some claim to 
a voice in the decision, fair and free discussion of their 
motives in proposing it, as one of those responsible* 
I am prepared to meet in a frank and friendly way. 

" To those who resort to misrepresentation and in- 
sinuations of unworthy motives, I will only say that 
my motives are sufficiently known to my fellow-workers, 
and I do not propose to defend them. They will bear 
comparison with those of some who have been rather 
liasty in resorting to personalities. The policy pro- 
posed must stand or fall on its own merits. I would 
remind some of m^' 'Nationalist^ critics, however, that 
misrepresentation on the part of men who live by 



100 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

scribbling cheap treason, and who never stir a finger 
to do anj real service to the cause for which the}- pro- 
fess such zeal, ma}', if persevered in, provoke a retalia- 
tion that would be somewhat inconvenient to them, and 
not at all edifying. This is all the notice I propose to 
take just now of the ' consistent ' patriots who pen the 
twaddle about ' Fenians in Parliament,' and the silly 
impertinences about ' American babble,' 

" That the discussion aroused on both sides of the 
Atlantic b}^ the proposal of a ' New Departure ' has 
done good, I am prepared to admit ; but so man}' mis- 
takes have been made on your side of the water, and 
such an amount of misrepresentation indulged in, that 
a clearer explanation of the objects sought to be at- 
tained and the principles professed by the proposers is 
necessary to enable the Irish people to form a correct 
judgment on the question. I am convinced that on 
the judgment formed on this question by the Irish 
people, and on the action that judgment will dictate, 
depends Ireland's political future for many years to 
come. Even at the risk of having merely ambitious 
motives attributed to me, I am determined that some 
recent utterances of mine on the subject of Parliament- 
ary and Municipal representation, and on the Land 
Question, which have been rather freel}' commented 
upon, shall be fully understood, at least by those who 
care to understand them, so that they may not be 
made the excuse for preventing action approved of in 
theor}' by the majority of Irish Nationalists, but not 
carried into etlect through fear of affording help to a 
certain class of trading politicians. These politicians, 
it is feared, might succeed in turning the National 
party into a mere machine for their own advancement 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 101 

if the ' New Departure ' were adopted, or if an}' other 
public policy were determined upon. I am as much 
opposed to allowing the National party to be used by 
worthless aspirants for parliamentarj^ honors as I am 
to see it made an instrument for the circulation of the 
nauseating cant about nationality served up by trad- 
ing speculations calling themselves ' National ' news- 
pai)ers, or that its onl}^ public appearancesr should be 
when called to applaud the bunkum of ' orators ' who 
keep their tongues and their hands rather vquiet when 
times of danger come. There is intelligence enough in 
the National party to save it from the parliamentary 
shams, just as it has intelligence enough to stamp as 
quacks and charlatans those who talk of fighting and 
sedulous!}' avoid preparation for it. I am convinced 
that these fears of the Parliamentarians, where they 
are honestly entertained, are groundless now, while I 
fully admit there was ample excuse for them in the 
past. 

" The object aimed at by the advanced National 
party — the recovery of Ireland's national independ- 
ence and the severance of all political connection with 
England — is one that would require the utmost efforts 
and the greatest sacrifices on the part of the whole 
Irish people. Unless the whole Irish people, or the 
great majority of them, undertake the task, and bend 
their whole energies to its accomplishment — unless the 
best intellect, the financial resources, and the physical 
strength of the nation he enlisted in the effort — it can 
•never he realized. Even with all these things in our 
favor the difficulties in our wa^- would be enormous ; 
but if firmly united and ably led, we could overcome 
them, and the result achieved would be worth the 



102 LTPE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

sacrifice. I am not one of those who despair of Ire- 
land's freedom, and am as nuich in favor of continuing 
the struggle to-day as some of those who talk loudest 
against constitutional agitation. 

" I am convinced that the whole Irish people can be 
J enlisted in an effort to Tree their native land, and that 
Vj^ the}' have within themselves the power to overconje all 
\f obstacles in their way. I feel satisfied that Ireland 
yj "^ could maintain her existence as an independent nation, 
^ become a respectable power in Europe, provide com- 
fortabl}' for a large population within her borders, and 
rival England in commerce and manufactures. I con- 
'\ tend she can never attain the development to which 
her geographical position, hev natural resources, and 
the moral and intellectual gifts of her people entitle her 
without becoming complete mistress of her own desti- 
nies, and severing the connection with England. But 
I am also convinced that one section of the people 
alone can never win independence, and no political 
part}', no matter how devoted or determined, can ever 
win the support of the whole people if they never 
X come before the public and take no part in the every- 
" day life of the countr}'. I have often said it before, 
and I repeat it now again, that a mere conspiracy 
will never free Ireland. I am not arguing against 
conspiracy, but onl}' pointing out the necessity of 
, Irish Nationalists taking whatefver public action for 

the advancement of the national cause they may find 
within their reach — such action as will place the aims 
and objects of the National party in a more favorable 
light before the world, and help to win the support of 

\^^ the whole Irish people 

"Those who propose the 'New Departure' merely 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 103 

want to provide good, wholesome work for the Na- 
tional pait}', which will have the effect of bringing all 
sections of Nationalists into closer relation by giving 
tlieni a common ground to work upon, a platform really 
broad onougli for all to stand upon, demanding no sac- 
rifice of principle, no abandonment of Ireland's rights. 
Tliey have long felt the necessity for some such action, 
and imagine they can see in the present state of parties 
in Ireland the best opportunity for proposing it which 
has 3'et presented itself. 

" Some of the arguments used in favor of the policy 
of isolation are very plausible, some of them very 
absurd ; but there is not one sufficiently strong to jus- 
tify a continuance of it, under existing circumstances. 
AYhen used by men who are, and have been for years, 
simply doing nothing, they do not deserve to be treated 
with common respect, as in the case of earnest men who 
practise what they preach. The proof that these argu- 
ments do not convince the people — not even the rank 
and file of the Nationalists — is to be found in the in- 
controvertible fact that the great majority of those vvho 
believe in independence, and who have the franchise, 
vote at all elections. 

"Even if there were a ' traditional policy,' a 'beaten 
path,' some of us would take the liberty of going out- 
side of one or. the other, if b}' doing so we thought we 
could advance the national cause. For mj'self, I must 
plead guilt}' to a strong disinclination to walk in the 
' narrows,' ' paths,' or ' tracks,' or ' grooves," marked 
out for my guidance by people whose ability for leader- 
ship, whose earnestness and whose judgment, I have 
the best reason to doubt. I j-ield to no man living in 
the lengths I am prepared to go to get rid of foreign 



•104 LIFE OF MICHAEL DA\TTT. 

domination in Ireland, but I refuse to be guided by 
the narrow dogmatism, througli tlie instrumentality of 
which a few pigmies managed for a sad decade or so, 
to retain a leadership for which neither nature nor 
training ever fitted them. I want to see the national 
will consulted through the only means at present avail- 
able, and when the countrj' speaks I am not afraid of 
the result, for I am convinced that Ireland desires in- 
dependence to-day as ardently as ever, and that noth- 
ing less will ever satisfy her. But it is simply absurd 
to ask the Irish people to follow a dangerous political 
course with their eyc^ blindfolded, and .trusting im- 
plicitly in guides, of whom they know nothing. I am 
willing to trust the people, and think the issue is 'safe 
in their hands. When the country is convinced of the 
necessity for vigorous and decided .action, I am not 
one of those who think the responsibility will be 
shirked. It was not the people who failed in recent 
National movements, but those who, without the capac- 
ity', the judgment, or the courage necessary to lead the 
people in times of trial and danger, assumed the re- 
sponsibility and broke down when the ordeal came. 
The Irish people have had more than enough of this 
kind of thing, and want no more self-appointed leaders 
or men laboring under a hailucination that they were 
born with a mission to regenerate them. . . 

" The advanced National party in Ireland has never 
had a clearl3'-defined polic}', further than a declaration 
in favor of independence, or, sometimes, an independ- 
ent republic, to be obtained b}' force of arms. The 
people have never been told the kind of an Ireland we 
should have if the making of it depended on the 
Nationalists, or how the Nationalists proposed to grap- 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 105 

plc with any of the burning social and political ques- 
tions which would demand solution if the country were 
freed to-morrow. The national sentiment of the peo- 
ple alone was appealed to, especially in the Fenian 
movement, while their judgment as to the capacity of 
the men who proposed to regenerate them was left en- 
tirely out of the question. Of course, the people had 
many opportunities of forming an opinion on these 
points through public speeches and writings ; but in 
this respect the constitutional agitators, honest or dis- 
honest, had many advantages over the extreme 
Nationalists, inasmuch as public profession of their 
principles or intentions brought the latter into conflict 
with the law. The lack of political training and of 
practical acquaintance with public business — such 
even as could b$ acquired b^' membership of a town 
council — has alwa3's told heavily against the National- 
ists, while their absence from such bodies left the 
whole countrj' in the hands of the West Britons, who 
are only a miserable minority. This enabled the min- 
ority not alone to speak and act in the name of the 
countr}', but gave its members the means of strengthen- 
ing and consolidating their party and crushing out 
their opponents. The more this is examined the more 
ruinous this policy of isolation will appear, and the 
more advantages to be derived from an organized, 
stead}', and persistent effort to get possession of those 
local bodies will be seen. While I admit that National- 
ists now vote at these elections, I den}- that they act as 
a body, or with an^' settled plan or purpose. 

"With the majorit}' of these bodies in our possession, 
even without the parliamentary represention, we sliould 
be in a position to do many things we can only dream 



106 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

of now. "With the municipal bodies and men of spirit 
and determination as parliamentary representatives, 
backed by the countrj' and by millions of the Irish race 
scattered over the world, there would be no necessity 
to go to London either to beg or to obstruct, and Irish 
Nationalists would have no more Tallaghts or ' cab- 
bage-gardens ' flung in their faces. 

" Can this be accomplished ? I claim it can ; but 
only by a combination between all sections of Irish 
Nationalists — between all those who are dissatisfied 
with the existing order of things, and desire self-gov- 
ernment in any form. The Home Rulers cannot do it, 
for no one among the people really believes in Mr. 
Butt's so-called ' Federal ' scheme. The Nationalists 
cannot honestly support the scheme ; for it gives to the 
English Parliament the prerogative, which belongs to 
the Irish people, of calling the proposed local parlia- 
ment into existence and defining its powers, there- 
fore having the right to abolish it by a simple act. It 
is a concession of England's right to rule Ireland. 

"The Repealers can never again arouse the enthu- 
siasm of the people ; because, though having a strong 
historical point in their favor, simple Repeal would 
restore the Irish House of Lords, which few in Ireland 
would endure now. The Repealers, furthermore, are 
not organized, and many of them, as well as many 
weak-kneed Nationalists, support the Home Rulers for 
want of something better. In fact, the whole rank and 
file of the Home-Rule party is composed of men who 
would prefer a larger measure of self-government if it 
could be obtained. 

" The Nationalists could only obtain control of the 
local bodies and of the parliamentary representation 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 107 

by the adoption of such a broad and comprehensive 
public |»olicy as would secure the support of that large 
class of Irishmen who now hold aloof from all parties, 
but are Nationalists in heart and feeling, and vote for 
the man or the part}^ that comes nearest to their ideas, 
and which would further detach from the Home Rale 
part}' all who are really in favor of a larger demand 
than that of Mr. Butt, but who now give the Home 
Rulers a conditional support. 

" The object, however, could be reached much more 
easilj' by an honorable compromise. This compromise 
is onl}' possible by leaving the form of self-government 
undefined — putting off the definition until a really 
representative body, with the country at its back, and 
elected with that mandate, could be assembled and 
speak in the name of the nation. When the nation 
speaks, all parties must obey, and a united Irish nation 
can shape its own destin5\ There is no use defining 
the form of self-government for the mere pui'pose of 
bringing forward a motion in Parliament once a 3'ear, 
or once every session, only to be "thrown out by a hos- 
tile majorit}' ; and complete independence cannot be 
demanded without coming into conflict with the law. 
As the battle of Irish freedom must he fought ontside 
Parliament, and as Home Rulers, Repealers, and Na- 
tionalists, all call the form of autonomj- the}- desire 
' Self-Government' — as, in addition to this, they agree 
substantially as to the present needs of Ireland, there 
should be nothing to prevent them agreeing on a com- 
mon platform which would bind them togetlier for the 
common good of the countrj', till the countr}' itself 
should speak in snch a manner as to command the 
allegiance of all. 



108 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

" Such a common platform was suggested in the 
cable despatch from New York, which has been called 
the ' Neio Departure.' The talk about the ' foil}' ' of 
publishing the substance of this telegram is almost too 
silly to waste words upon. It is simply the height of 
folly to imagine there was anything to be concealed in 
it. There was nothing proposed which is not strictly 
within the law, and no man in Ireland would have the 
slightest reason to fear the consequences of avowing 
his acceptance of the propositions. They would not 
bind a member of Parliament to accept the revolution- 
ary polic}-, nor could he be held responsible for threats 
or speeches of the proposers in the United States. 
The}' simpl}' bind all who accept them to carr}' them 
out ; and the carr3'ing of them out breaks no British 
law. It is not an ' alliance' between Home Rulers and 
Revolutionists which is proposed, but the adoption of 
a broad and comprehensive public policy, which Na- 
tionalists and men of more moderate views could alike 
support without sacrifice of principle. 

" No part}', or combination of parties, in Ireland 
can ever hope to win the support of the majority of 
the people, except it honestly proposes a radical re- 
form of the land system. No matter what may be said 
in favor of individual landlords, the whole system was 
founded on robber}' and fraud, and has been perpet- 
uated by cruelty, injustice, extortion, and hatred of the 
people. The men who got small farms in the times of 
confiscation settled down in the country, and their 
descendants, no matter what tlieir political party, are 
now .'bone of our bone' — have become Irish — and 
perform a useful function in the land. No one thinks 
of disturbing them. If the landlords had become 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 109 

Irish, and treated the people with humanity, the orig- 
inal robbery might be forgiven — though a radical 
change in the tenure of land must come of itself some 
day ; but when, as a class, the}- have simply done 
England's work of rooting out the Irish people ; when 
the history of landlordism is simpl}' a dark stor}' of 
heartless cruelty, of artificial famines, of evictions, 
of rags and squalid misery, there is no reason why 
we should forget that the system was forced upon us by 
England, and that the majority of the present landlords 
are the inheritors of the robber horde sent over by 
Elizabeth and James L, b}" Cromwell and William of 
Orange, to garrison the country for England. It is the 
interest of Ireland that the land should be owned by 
those who till the soil, and this could be reached with- 
out even inflicting hardship on those who deserve no 
leniency at the hands of the Irish people. A solution 
of the Land Question has been reached, to a large ex- 
tent, in France, in Prussia, and in Belgium, by ena- 
bling the occupiers to purchase their holdings. Let the 
Irish landlords be given a last chance of settling the 
Irish Land Question amicably in this manner, or wait 
for a solution in which they shall have no part. Let a 
beginning be made with the absentees, the English 
lords, and the London companies who hold stolen land 
in Ireland, and there will be enough of work for some 
^•ears to come. Let evictions be stopped at all hazards, 
and the rooting-out process come to an end. But I 
shall be told the English Parliament will never do any 
of these things. Then, I say, these things must onlj'^ 
wait till an Irish Parliament can do them better ; but 
in the mean time good work will have been done, sound 



110 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAYITT. 

principles inculcated, and the countiy aroused and 
organizeil. 

" To those who are alarmed at language like this, iu 
regard to the Land Question, I would say : Look at 
France, at Prussia, and at Belgium, and j'ou will find 
that the secret of their prosperity lies in the number 
of tillers of the soil who own their holdings. Listen 
to the mutterings of the coming storm in England, 
and ask 3'ourselves what is going to become of the 
laud monopoly after a few more j-ears of com- 
mercial and manufacturing depression — a depression 
sure to continue, because the causes of it are on the 
increase. The English are a very practical and a very 
selfish people, and will not let any fine sentiment stand 
in the way when thej' think it is their interest to re- 
distribute the land. What, may I ask, would become 
of the Irish landlords — especially the rack-renting, 
evicting ones — in case of a social convulsion in Eng- 
land? It is a question which they themselves must 
decide within the next few j-ears. With them, or with- 
out them, the question will be settled before long, and 
many who liovv think the foregoing assertions extrava- 
gant will consider them very moderate indeed, by and 
by. The education question is only approached, at 
present, from a purely religious stand-point. There is 
no reason why it should not be treated also from a 
utilitarian point of view, not to speak of a national 
one. The curse of Ireland for several centuries past, 
after foreign rule — indeed, as a direct result of foreign 
rule — is sectarianism. It is the interest of the Irish 
people that the rising generation of all creeds should 
receive a sound, practical training, that will fit them 
for the battle of life, and enable them to compete with 



LITE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. Ill 

the 3'oung men of countvies hitherto more favored in 
that respect. The natural resources of Irehanc.l -will 
never be developed by men trained as the majority of 
the present generation have been. Why not insist on 
the history of Ireland being taught in all our schools, 
and on the nationalization of the schools where the 
Protestants are trained? It cannot be expected that 
men trained up in anti-Irish ideas will make good 
Irisliraen ; nor can it be expected that an}' large 
number of Protestants will join any political party 
which devotes its principal efforts to a purely Catholic 
object. It is fear of the Catholic majority more than 
love of England which makes anti-Irish Irishmen of so 
many of our Protestant fellow-countrA-men ; and, if 
they are ever to be won over to the national side, some 
sacrifice must be made. He must be a dull Irishman 
indeed who will assert that their aid is not worth 
having, and anything that is worth having is worth 
paying for. -The price in this case is the exclusion of 
all sectarian issues from the national platform. This 
would not produce any miraculous transformation. 
We must wait for results, but the}' are sure to come, 
for the simple reason that it is for the material interest 
of the Protestants, as well as the Catholics, that 
Ireland should govern herself. 

" If Ireland were free now, one of the first things, 
after the Land Question, which would demand solution, 
would be that of county government, and the principle 
should be laid down in the national programme. The 
whole people have an interest in the local as well as 
the national administration, and should have the selec- 
tion of a county council or board, having much the 
same powers as the council-general of a French depart- 



112 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

ment. The present abortion of count}' government, 
called a grand jur}', which ennbles the foreign garrison 
to look after its own interests at the expense of the 
people, will not, of course, be abolished by the Eng- 
lish Parliament, though it may be tinkered ; but its 
abolition should be demanded, and the principle of 
the people's right to do their own business through 
their elected representatives clearly enunciated. While 
the right to the franchise of every man born on Irish 
soil, who has not forfeited his rights of citizenship by 
conviction of a crime against society', should be af- 
firmed, the ver}^ least that should be demanded, at 
present, is the equalization of the Irish franchise with 
that of England. 

" If a programme, such as I have roughh' sketched 
above, were adopted and vigorously carried out, its 
acceptance made the test for election to all offices in 
the gift of the electors, and the people thoroughly 
organized for its support, the countr}^ would soon 
throb with a vigorous and healthy life from end to end, 
and we should at last begin to see the dawn of our day 
of liberation. It would give Ireland the materials out 
of which a national government could be formed which 
would command the confidence of the Irish people at 
home and abroad, and the respect of foreign nations. 
From the ver}' outset it would seriously embarrass the 
diplomacy of England abroad ; and, if carried out with 
firmness, resolution, and judgment, it would make Ire- 
land count for something in the world, even before she 
won self-government. 

" It has been objected by some very well meaning 
people that the publication and explanation of this 
programme is the avowal of designs that England will 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 113 

take good care to provide against ; but a little reflec- 
tion will convince any intelligent man, that the first 
public step taken as a result of its adoption would 
clearly indicate the ultimate object. It would be as 
clear as the noon-da^- sun to English statesmen ; but 
England has entered on a career in which she cannot 
stop, and she can no longer treat us as in the past. 
That vast agglomeration of hostile races and conflict- 
ing interests scattered over tho world, called the Brit- 
ish Empire, has been held together up to the present 
b}' favorable circumstances, which are disappearing 
day by da\-. It is filled with inflammable material 
within, and beset, with powerful and watchful enemies 
without. It was constructed for commercial purposes 
alone, is conducted on merely commercial principles, 
and cannot stand a great strain. It cannot last, and 
the crash will come as sure as fate. It lias passed the 
summit of its glory and its infamv, and is now on the 
descent which leads inevitably to ruin. It is our turn 
now. Our watchwords should be : j^c^'f^^'^^'^c^i jyrudence, 
courage, and sleepless vigilance. Great events are 
coming upon us, and on the way we demean ourselves 
during the next few 3'ears, will depend whether we are 
to play a considerable part in those events, and build 
up a nation, or sink in the ruins of one of the broken 
empires of the world. 

" No one who looks at the present condition of the 
East, who considers the inevitable eflfects of the polic}' 
inaugurated by the present government of England, and 
the settled policy of Russia — no one who has any 
knowledge of the immense interests at stake — can 
seriously think that war on one of the largest scales 
ever witnessed can much longer be averted. In such a 



114 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

war the blood and treasure of Ireland would be poured 
out like water for the interests of a power which has 
robbed us of everything, and rooted out and exter- 
minated our people. Ireland would gain nothing by it. 
It is time to ask, Shall Ireland have something to say 
about this expenditure of her vital necessaries, and, if 
it is inevitable, can she find no better way to appl}' 
them ? This is a question which Home-Rulers as well as 
Nationalists will be called upon to answer some of these 
daj-s, and now is the time to make up their minds. 

" It was considerations like these which dictated the 
proposition of the ' New Departure,' and this explana- 
tion is given so that the Nationalists of Ireland may 
not be misled b}' the misrepresentations and the mis- 
takes which have appeared in print in reference to it. 
They have as yet come to no decision ; and I hope 
when they do,' it will be a wise one. They must, hosv- 
ever, beware of those ' friends ' of theirs who raise the 
cry of ' Dictation from America.' No one in America 
wants to dictate to them ; but these gentlemen must 
pardon me if I respectfully decline the honor of being 
classed as an ' American.' Eespectfully yours, 

"JOHN DEVOY." 
Hitherto the demands of the Tenant- Eighters 
were mild and moderate. The Tenant League, 
in 1852, would have been satisfied with a settle- 
ment of the Land Question on a basis of fixity of 
tenure and fiiir rents. Now, however, the people 
•were set -thinking. Tlie Nationalists, in their 
"New Departure," advanced a hold demand, em- 
bracing the abolition of landlordism, and the 
establishment of a peasant proprietary system in 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 115 

its place. Mr. Parnell, himself a landlord, pub- 
"TTcly expressed bis conviction that' such was the 
only possible satisfactory settlement of the Land 
Question, and Tenants' Defence Associations, Far- 
mers' Clubs, and other bodies came forward with 
similar pronouncements. Tlie farming classes of 
Ireland began to awalie into new life ; they saw 
something tangible and possible offered in the 
new programme. The opinions expressed in the 
"New Departure" movement began to take deep 
root and develop into a powerful agitation, which 
was begun under the able management of Michael 
Davitt in Mav, 1879, in the counties of Mayo, 
Gal way, and Roscommon. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

How Irish Tenant-Faemees aee ground down by the 
Landlords. — Wuy the Extremists should aid the 
Land Agitation. — The Law of Primogeniture Ex- 
plained. — The Ancient Irish Law of Gavel. — 
Statistics Relating to Land and Landlords. 

"Alas! though feudal terror cease, thy children suffer still, 
And keener weapons than the sword are raised to waste and 

kill; 
In vain the care-worn peasant's fate appeals to lordly pride; 
The humble hopes that toil inspired are ruthlessly denied I" 

— Rev. Geo. Hill. 

The fulcrum of Irish liberty is the Land Ques- 
tion. It is the prop'ou which must rest the lever 



116 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

that is to overturn British dominion in Ireland ! 
Two-thirds of the population live on the land, 
and have no other means of existence. Ireland 
is bereft of manuftictures and all other sources 
that might give employment to those who are 
driven from cultivation of the farms ; therefore 
the people must cling to their holdings, though 
they may be rack-rented and subjected to a thou- 
sand petty tyrannies by their feudal taskmasters, 
— the landlords. If they throw np their farms, 
nothing remains bnt the emigrant ship, the chance 
of a laborer's precarious wages in the towns, or 
possibly, as frequently happens, the poor-house 
may be their doom; there is no more land to be 
I hired, unless they happen to have plenty of 
money, and pay an exorbitant "fine" to a land- 
lord to get it "over other tenants' heads." 

The projectors of the Land League acted wisely 
in selecting this vital question as the issue for a 
new trial of strength with England. It proved a 
touchstone that at once called into action the en- 
tire nation, and enlisted the sympathies of the 
people ; and the dullest can see — if they want to — 
that it is or can be made a means towards a great 
end. The condition of the Irish tenant-farmer 
since the substitution of an English feudal tenure 
for the Brehon tribal usages has been one of great 
suffering. They have been ground down to a 
serfdom that left them no choice but to bear it or 
starve. The Irish landlord has always exacted 



LIFE OF IMICHAEL DAVITT. 117 

the last farthing which the land could yield after 
giving a miserable sustenance to the tiller, whose 
sweat brought the acres into fertility. He rarely 
ever considered or acknowledged that the tenant 
had rights in the soil, — even when the latter by 
unceasing and almost superhuman toil cultivated 
the sterile waste, the mountain slope, or the bog 
into a garden of productiveness. No ! the tenant 
had no right, but the right to work and improve 
the land, so that the rent might be raised, and 
raised, until human or superhuman labor could 
wring no more from the soil; then, and only 
then, was the standard rent fixed by the Irish 
landlord. Was this ghoul-like absorption of the 
fruits of the toil of sweat and blood of the farmer 
the only grievance he had to bear from his task- 
master, — almost owner? By no means: the 
landlord was the laio ; for whatever there was of 
it he administered ! He was the magistrate, 
judge, and jury. He controlled the courts, the 
prisons, the grand jury, the poor-law boards. 
He was the watchful sentinel of hated British 
power in a subject country. "His Honor" was 
" the master," whom it would be a daring risk to 
displease or offend. 

The Irish landlord had less consideration for his 
tenants than a Virginian planter had for his slaves. 
If the rent was not forthcoming, no matter if the 
crop failed or not; if a member of the tenant's 
family married contrary to the "rules of tho 



118 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

estate ;" if the tenant dared to vote for a member 
of Parliament contrary to his landlord's will ; if 
a tenant killed game on the lands "preserved" for 
the landlord's pleasure, or if another ofiered over 
the tenant's head and paid a "fine," or a larger 
rent, for the lands ; if, in fact, he acted in any 
manner contrary to the pleasure of "His Honor," 
the landlord, — out on the roadside went he and his 
family, to starve or die ; and, if any other tenant 
on the property offered shelter to the unfortunates, 
out he went also. The farmers and their families 
"vvere reduced to absolute submission to the land- 
owner's will: if they displeased him, the punish- 
ment was a terrible one. 

From 1793 to 1829, during the existence of the 
Forty-shilling Freehold Act, which gave a voting 
power to tenants of that rating, the landlords 
granted leases for life of small patches of land to 
large numbers of the people, in order to create a 
voting power, — the -tenant being expected, of 
course, to vote at his landlord's beck ; but, after the 
act was abolished, the votes being lost, they swept 
the people and their families off the land ; and from 
that time to the present the " Crowbar Brigade " 
has I)een busy at work depopulating the country. 
Why have we so many millions of our race scat-, 
tered through the United States, Canada, the South 
American republics, Australia, . Africa, in Eng- 
land even, and over the entire habitable globe? 
The Irish landlord can best answer the ques- 



LITE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 



119 



tion. He has been a vulture whose talons clutched 
the throat of Irish industry; progressiveness, and 
liberty, strangling every attempt to keep pace 
with the progress of civilization. It is time to 
sliMke off the foul parasite, and give humanity a 
ch:ince to enjo}'' the fruits of the soil, which are 
produced by God's sunshine and man's sweat. 
The Irish tenant-farmer has been blamed for not 
being as read}'' as those living in the towns to join 
revolutionary movements. Who can blame him 
when the facts we have mentioned are. borne in 
mind? The landk)rd was watching him, and for 
his family's sake he kept aloof. 

The first real step towards Irish liberty is the 
destruction of the power that keeps the people 
bound down, rcndeiing them slaves to a class 
that really is the British garrison of Ireland. 
Loose the grip of Irish landlordism, destroy the 
influence it exercises over the masses, give free- 
dom of action to the farming serf, and Britain 
will the sooner lose her hold on the entire nation. 

The promoters of the Land League played for a 
great stake, and they have won it. They showed 
the tenants how to right their own wrongs, with- 
out bcffijinj]: for leijislation from a British Parlia- 
ment, and, ere the crusade begun b\' jSIichael Dav- 
itt on the Mayo Hills had had time fully to develop, 
the British Ministry has been compelled to step in 
and offer terms of settlement to the tenaiit farm- 
ers. The tillers of the soil were thoroughly 



120 LIFE or MICHAEL DAVITT. 

aroused : Avheu once shown the way towards 
emancipation, they sprang into life and action, 
and they were never so near independence as they 
are to-day. The Avords of, Thomas Davis in his 
admirable essay on Irish history, though written 
thirty-tive years ago, are applicable to Ireland's 
position to-day. He says : — 

" She is still a serf-nation ; but she is struggling 
wisely and patiently, and is ready to struggle with all 
the energy her advisers think politic, for liberty. She 
has ceased to wail : she is beginning to make up a 
record of English crime and Irish suffering, in order 
to explain the past, to justify the present, and caution 
the future. She begins to stud}' the past, — not to 
acquire a beggar's eloquence in petition, but a hero's 
wrath in strife. She no longer tears and parades her 
wounds, to win her smiter's mercy ; and now she 
should look upon her breast and say, 'That wound 
makes me distrust, and this makes me guard, and they 
all will make me steadier to resist, or, if all else fails, 
fiercer to avenge.' Thus will Ireland do naturally and 
honorabl}'. Oar spirit has increased, — cur liberty is 
not far off." 

Charles Gavan Duffy, in his recent admirable 
book "Young Ireland," which should be read by 
every man and woman of Irish blood, says of the 
Irish landlord : — 

"The condition of the two classes who live by agri- 
culture furnished a singular contrast. The great pro- 
prietors were two or three hundred, — the heirs of the 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 121 

undertakers, for the most part, and absentees ; the 
mass of the country was owned by a couple of 
thousand others, who lived in splendor, and even 
profusion ; and for these the peasant ploughed, sowed, 
tended, and reaped a harvest which he never shared. 
IJent in other countries means the surplus after the 
fiirmer has been liberally paid for his skill and labor ; 
in Ireland it meant the whole produce of the soil ex- 
cept a potato-pit. If the farmer strove for more, his 
master knew how to bring him to speedy submission. 
He could carry away his implements of trade by the 
law of distress, or rob him of his sole pursuit in life by 
the law of eviction. He could, and habitually did, 
seize the stools and pots in his miserable cabin, the 
blanket that sheltered his children, the cow that gave 
them nourishment. . . . There was nowhere in 
Europe a propertied class who did so little for the 
people and took so much from them. The productive 
power of an estate was often doubled and quadrupled 
by the industry of the farmers ; and its rental rose 
accordingl}'. . . . Rents impossible to be paid were 
kept on the books of an estate, and arrears duly re- 
corded to hold the tenant in perpetual subjection. For, 
in addition to his labor, the landlord required his vote, 
and various menial services. . . . The food of the 
peasant was potatoes, with a little milk or salt ; flesh- 
meat he rarely tasted, except when he went as a harvest 
laborer to England ' to earn the rent.' " 

Since the great Emancipation and Repeal agita- 
tions carried on under the leadership of O'Connell, 
the tenant-farmers as a class had taken no active 
part in national affairs ; the memories of the 



122 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

wholesale evictions, famine horrors, and scatter- 
ing of millions of their race all over the world, 
seemed to produce a torpor from which it was 
hard to awake them into national life. Fifty 
years ago, when Ireland emerged from the dark 
shadow of the penal laws, four millions of the 
people could neither read nor write, and a million 
and a half more who could read a little could not 
write. England, by her atrociously vindictive and 
inhuman laws, succeeded in legislating the people 
into ignorance and wretchedness, the like of which 
never was known in any civilized country ; but 
she did not and she never will succeed in breaking 
the spirit or pride of the race, or in destroying 
their determination to struggle perpetually until 
their complete national independence is won. 
They have never yet cried ^ecc«^;^, or relinquished 
the fight for freedom. If beaten to-day, they will 
try again to-morrow, always remembering that 

"Freedom's battle once begun, 
Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son, 
Though baffled oft is ever won." 

After the Emancipation Act was passed, the 
schools were again opened ; and since then the 
youth of Ireland have had some chance of opening 
and enlis^htening their minds, throuo-h that half- 
fledged system miscalled "national education." 
The Irish farmers to-day are intelligent, and 
quick to see, when pointed out to them, the best 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 123 5 *^ 



means for advancing their own condition, and that « p^ 
of the whole, country. It was time, therefore, for 
Davitt and those who began the land agitation with 
him, to move. They did move, and soon swept 
aside those who in the beginning opposed the 
"New Departure." Yet there are man_y good and 
sincere Irishmen who, in their detestation of all 
parliiimentary agitation, refuse to participate in or 
countenance the Land League movement. Well, 
"we cannot all l)e of the same mind ; Ave should 
respect the opinions of others, whpn honest, as 
■well as our own. Certainly, with the history 
before them of the failures of so many Constitu- 
tional attempts to redress Irish wrongs, and, con- 
sidering that out of the. six hundred and fifty 
memljers which compose the House of Commons 
Ireland has a representation of only one hundred 
and five members, who can be, and always have 
been, outvoted on questions relating to Ireland, 
it is only surprising that the number of prominent 
Irishmen who refuse aid to the present land move- 
ment is so inconsiderable. There is that, how- 
ever, in the issue raised by the National Land 
League which appears potent enough to call for 
the support of all shades of Irish political opin- 
ion : and it is, that the question can be forced to a 
proper settlement outside the legislature, if the 
farmers are true to themselves and to the doctrine 
preached to them by the leaders of the movement ; 
and, further, the farming classes are being reached 



124 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

and politically educated in a manner that could 
not be otherwise accomplished th:in through an 
open agitation ; so that, howev^er the Land Question 
may result, an immense amount of good will have 
been done in the destruction of the baleful power 
hitherto exercised by the landlord oligarchy, and 
in preparing the great mass of the people for 
sterner work. 

Why should Irish Revolutionists — not prepared 
themselves to strike, and with their opportunity 
possibly afar off — be satisfied to stand idly by 
and witness famines decimating the country ; the 
people leaving the shores in tens of thousands, 
perhaps never to return ; in the year 1880 alone, 
the official returns say that nearly one hundred 
thousand persons emigrated, — while those who 
remain are cowed and bowed down under a weight 
of misery almost unendurable. Better agitate, or 
do anything that will keep the people at home, 
improve their condition, and infuse a healthy 
national spirit into them, than look idly on, wait- 
ing for the hour of "England's Difficulty," while 
the life-blood of the nation is flowing awa}'. This 
is practical patriotism of the right sort ; the Eev- 
olutionary party saw and adopted it. 

That the time has come for the settlement of 
the Irish land problem, we cannot doubt. We 
have the expression of some of the greatest think- 
ing minds of the age, including political econo- 
mists and British statesmen, in favor of justice 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 125 

being extended to the tiller of the soil — particu- 
larly in Ireland — in a fair and equitable manner. 
John Stuart Mill, in his "Political Economy," says : 
"The surplus is what the farmer can afford to pay 
as rent to the landlord ; the rent, therefore, which 
any land will yield is the excess of the produce. 
This ... is one of the cardinal doctrines of 
'political economy.'" And the following para- 
graph in fivor of a peasant proprietary occurs in 
p. 201 of the same work : — 

" The land of Ireland — the land of any conntjy — 
belongs to the people of that country. The individuals 
called land-owners have no right, in morality and 
justice, to an^-thing but the rent or compensation for 
its salable value. When the inhabitants of a country 
quit the country en nmsse, because its government will 
not make it a place fit for them to live in, the govern- 
ment is judged and condemned. It is the duty of 
Parliament to reform the land tenure in Ireland. There 
is no necessity for depriving the landlords of one far- 
thing of the pecuniary value of their legal rights ; but 
justice requires that the actual cultivators should be 
enabled to become in Ireland, what they will become in 
America, proprietors of the soil which they cultivate." 

He further says : — 

" What has been epigrammatically said in the dis- \ 
cussion on ' peculiar burdens' is literally true when 
applied to them : that the greatest ' burden on land ' is 
the landlords. Returning nothing to the soil, they 
consume its whole produce, minus the potatoes, strictly 



126 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

necessaiy to keep the inhabitants from d3'ing of fam- 
ine ; and, when they have an}- purpose of Improvment, 
the proparator)' step usually consists in not leaving 
even this pittance, but turning out the people to beg- 
gar}', if not to starvation. When landed propert}- has 
placed itself on this footing, it ceases to be defensible ; 
and the time has come for making some new arrange- 
ment of the matter. When the ' sacredness of prop- 
erty ' is talked of, it should always be remembered that 
any such sacredness does not belong in the same degree 
to landed properly. No man made the land. It is 
the original inheritance of the whole species. Its ap- 
propriation is a question of general expediency. When 
priyate property in land is not expedient, it is unjust." 

England's greatest statesmen have from time 
to time condemned the Irish land system, and 
scholars and writers have a million limes cried 
shame ! on the country that alone, of all the Euro- 
pean kingdoms, continues to enforce and perpet- 
uate a barbarous feudal land code, in the interest 
of a small minority that grind and rob the millions 
of their God-gfiven rights. Let us see what this 
"insolent prerogative" of primogeniture — as the 
historian Gibbon calls it — means, and contrast it 
with the law of gavel, which was the original law in 
vogue amongst the Irish before they fell under the 
blasting influence of British rule. Prior to the 
English invasion, the Irish people knew nothing 
of absolute ownership in land. The lands be- 
longed to the clans : the chief merely held as 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 127 

trustee, or manager, for the sept; and, if by any 
act of his he became dispossessed, the rights of the 
p('0[)le were in no way affected. The law of r/avel, 
which emanated from the tribunal of Tara — an 
assembly of the ndcrs and learned men of the 
tribes througliout Ireland, which met triennially 
in the Parliament of Tara — oI)liged a rich parent 
at his death to divide his property, share and 
share alike, amongst his children. ■ This system 
was the wisest and best that could be devised ; 
for, as the population increased, each person had 
an equal share provided for him, which placed him 
above de[)endence on others. The subdivision- of 
property among the masses was a security to the 
entire people. On the other hand, the tendency 
of the celebrated baron law of primogeniture — 
one of the curses that followed the English 'inva- 
sion into Ireland — is to make beggars and 
paupers of the masses of the people. This law 
Avas instituted in England in the eleventh century 
by William the Conquerer, and subsequently be- 
came the governing law of the landed property in 
Ireland acquired by the invaders through confis- 
cation and plunder of the natives. The law of 
primogeniture prohibits the owners of estates 
from selling any portion of them, dividing them 
amongst children, or in any way disposing of them, 
except by the aristo(;racy-sustaining regulation 
which it prescribes, of compelling the parent at his 
death to bequeath the whole to his eldest son, to the 



128 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

exclusion of his other children. The canon of the 
common law touching descents which pertains to 
this subject is, that if a man dies seized of real 
estate of wliich he had the absolute ownership, 
without having made any disposition of it by his 
last will, the whole descends to his heir at law ; 
and this heir at law is that one of his rejirescnta- 
tives who is the eldest male among those who are 
in the same degree of kindred. The tendency of 
primogeniture, therefore, is to keep the land in 
the possession of a few, who are powerless to dis- 
pose of it except as stipnlated. They hold the 
estates for life, and, as too frequently happens, 
if the inheritor under this sjstem becomes em- 
barrassed through extravagance, dissipation, gam- 
bling, or any of the hundred landlord vices, not 
being able to sell any portion of the estate to 
satisfy his creditors, he screws the last farthing of 
rack-rent out of his unfortunate tenants. He will 
make his life-interest as protitable as he possibly 
can, — no matter who sutfers. 

As most of the great Irish estates are inherited 
under the law of primogeniture and entail, it will 
be readily seen what misery is produced by that 
system, when the owners are unscrupulous and 
unsympathetic with the masses of the people. 

The entire of Ireland under laud and water 

contains a total in acres of .... 20, 819, 947 
Of tliis there is under water .... 027,761 



Giving a total acreage in land of . . . 2i),l[)2,lti6 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 129 

This iicreago is distributed as follows : — 

Under towns, waste, bog, mountain, etc, . 4,153,854 

Under plantation 324,900 

Under tillage 6,642,057 

Under i^asture 10,071,285 

20,192,186 

Now let us see how the land of Ireland is 
divided among the people : — 

Proprietors. Acres. Acres. 

110 holding 20,000 and over, own 4,151,142 

192 " 20,000 to 10,000 " 2,607,719 

440 " 10,000 " 5,000 " 3,071,471 

1,246 " 6,000 " 2,000 « 3,872,611 

1,773 " 2,000 " 1,000 " 2,474,756 

2,633 " 1,000 " 6t)0 " 1,871,171 

2,271 " 500 '' 300 " 884,493 

1,916 " 300 " 200 " 471,646 

2,788 " 200 " 100 " 408,699 

2,082 " 100 '' 50 " 152,004 

1,460 " 50 " 25 " 52,804 

2,377 " under 25 " 29,056 



19,288 20,047,572 

The total government yearly valuation of this 
acreage for taxation purposes is £10,182,681. 
These 19,288 landed proprietors are classed as 
follows in the official returns : — 

Acres Representerl. 

Proprietors i-esident in Ireland 10,431 ; 14,095,813 

Absentee proprietors . . 2,973 5,129,169 
Public Companies in England, and 

Proprietary Institutions . . 161 584,327 
Proprietors of under 100 acres, 

not classed .... 6,982 236,873 

19,547 20,046,182 



130 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

The Census of 1871, which was the Inst taken — 
that of 1881 not being yet puhli.shed — gives the to- 
tal population of Ireland at that tin^.c as 5,412,377. 
The estimated population for 1879 is 5,299,209 ; a 
steady decrease shows itself in the returns each 
year. 

It will be observed from the foregoing figures, 
that although Ireland is almost exclusively an 
agricultural country, in which about two-thirds of 
the population depend on the land for a living, 
yet only a little over one-fourth of the land is 
under tillage. The reason for this is the tendency 
of late by the landlords to create large grazing 
farms, and their prohibition in leases and agree- 
ments against tenants "breaking the land" for 
agricultural purposes. In carrying out the pro- 
gramme of the amalgamation of small farms into 
large stock-raising pastures, the landlords have 
swept away in a wholesale manner tens of Ihou- 
Bands of families from the land, and depopulated 
whole villages, to such an extent that in many 
parts of the country it is difficult to get sufficient 
help in the spring and autnmn to work the portion 
of the -land which is under cultivation. The 
object clearly was to get rid of the people, and 
supply their places with cattle ; it being easier to 
collect the rents from a few large stock-raisers 
than from numerous tenants with large families de- 
pending for support on the wretched pittance left 
after paying rack-rent and taxes. The extreme 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 131 

poverty and dependence of the masses can be 
seen at a glance, through the figures giving the 
number of landed monopolists : 110 persons own 
one-fifth of the whole country, or over four mil- 
lions of acres ; 192 persons own over two and a 
half millions of acres ; 440 own over three millions 
of acres ; 1,246 own nearly four millions of acres. 
The total of these few figures shows that nearly 
fourteen millions of acres are owned absolutely 
by 1,878 individuals, while nearly four and a half 
millions more are owned by 4,406 persons ; this 
gives an ownership of over eighteen millions of 
acres to 6,284 lauded proprietors. Of these large 
land-owners 2,973 are absentees who hold over 
one-fonrth of the entire Island, or five million 
one hundred and twenty-nine thousand one hun- 
dred and sixty-seven acres, and who rarely — if 
ever — visit their properties. For the millions of 
pounds in rack-rents which they screw from the 
farmers, not one cent ever goes back to be ex- 
pended in Ireland. 

From our analysis of these official figures it can 
be seen that auy hope of progress or prosperity 
in Ireland depends entirely on the destruction of 
the law of primogeniture and entail ; the taking 
of the lands from the few aristocrats that hold 
them by law, who have been a curse and a blight 
for centuries on one of the fairest and most pro- 
ductive countries on the globe ; and the creation 
of a peasant proprietary. " No man made the 



132 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

LAND." It was made by God for the people, and 
the people should own the soil they till and 
enrich by their sweat and labor. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Davitt's Retukn to Ireland.— The Agitation begun in 
Mayo. — Death of Isaac Butt. — Pronouncements by 
THE Catholic Clergy. — Famine Clouds appear on 
the Horizon. — Archbishop MacHale condemns the 
Leaders of the Agitation. — Michael Davitt's 
Reply. 

"The .West's asleep, the West's asleep; 
Alas! and well may Erin weep 
That Connaught lies in slumBer deep. 
But hark ! some voice like thunder spake : 
*The WesVs awake 1 the West's awake I' " 

— Thomas Davis. 



INIiCHAEL Davitt returned to Ireland from the 
United States in the latter part of December, 
1879, and, ere many months had elapsed, the 
Land League and anti-rent banner was flung to 
the breeze in Mayo. He spent the first few 
months after his arrival in arranging his plans, 
and organizing for the great meetings which imme- 
diately followed. On Sunday, April 20, the first 
monster meeting of the tenant-farmers of Mayo, 
Galway, and Eoscommon, was held on a plain 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 133 ^ 

Avithin a few miles of Claremorris. It numbered '^"'^^ 
from 15,000 to 20,000 people, and was considered 
the greatest ever held in the province of Con- 
nauofht. Five hundred horsemen wearinsf jji-een 
emblems were present. Mr. James Daly, P.L.G., 
presided. The land and rent question was "ably 
discussed by J. O'Connor Power, M.P., John 
Ferguson, of Glasgow, J. J. Louden, of Westport, 
and other speakers of ability. The grievances 
under which the tenant-farmers labored were 
represented, and resolutions pledging those pres- 
ent to the cause of land-law reform were adopted. 
At this time the distress caused by three years of 
bad harvests was beginning to make itself felt 
amons: the small farmers, and the -land-owning: 
cormorants were beginning to swoop down on their 
prey. At the quarter sessions held in Swineford 
in April, '79, fifty-four ejectment decrees were 
granted for non-payment of rent, only one year's 
rent in each case being due. 

The Dul)lin Freeman's Journal, in the becfinning: 
of May, alluding to the distress then manifesting 
itself throughout the country, said : " Scarcely a 
day passes which does not bring new proof of the 
magnitude of the distress which has overtaken 
the agricultural classes throughout the country. 
At all the recent meetings of the Farmers' Clubs 
this was the most absorbing topic of conversation, 
and numerous private letters confirm the melan- 
choly tale. At no period since the famine years 



134 LIFE OF MICHAEL DA"^^TT. 

has anything like the present collapse been felt. 
The distress is not confined to a district or a 
county : it is general and searching. It has al- 
ready plunged countless families into difficulties 
little short of ruin, — difficulties which, in many 
cases, it will cost many years of prosperity to re- 
cover. We have it on the most indisputable 
authority that the farming classes throughout the 
country have had in numberless cases to plunge 
heavily into debt to keep themselves afloat, the 
rent in many cases having been met by the ruin- 
ous means of bills and loans." 

The agitation, therefore, began just in time to 
counteract the terrible eifects of the fimine, which 
became general throughout the West the following 
autumn and winter ; and also ,to interpose be- 
tween the landlords and their intended victims. 
How well each was done we know to-day. 

An event of much importance, although not of 
any considerable bearing on the future of the new 
land movement, as the j^eople had already decided 
in its favor, occurred on May 5th. On that day 
Isaac Butt, the leader of the Home-Rule party, 
died in Dublin. Mr. Butt — according to his 
lights — did noble work for his country, and his 
memory will ever be revered, as it deserves to bo, 
by his fellow-countrymen. From being a stanch 
supporter of Protestantism and British ascend- 
ancy, and a vehement champion of ultra-Orange- 
ism and Kentish tire, he became an earnest pleader 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 135 

of the people's rights, and an exposer of the 
grievances of his down-trodden country. He 
subsequently was chosen leader of the popular 
cause in Parliament, to which he honestly devoted 
his great talents. Butt's conversion from rabid 
pro-Britouism was sudden and singular. It came 
to pass in this wise: At one time when "travel- 
ling from Cork to Dublin, he met, at the Limerick 
Junction, a large band of emigrants, and witness- 
ing, until he was touched to tears, the agony with 
Avhich their hearts Avas thrilled at leaving the 
land they loved so fondly, the thought came to 
him that there must be something fatally wrong 
in that Government which would thus compel a 
people to leave a country rich in resources, lying 
undeveloped and waste. Out of this thought 
grew another, until he was covered with them as 
with so many green boughs, under which sprang 
up the national faith, and he took up the cause of 
"Home Itule" and proclaimed it. With what 
excellent judgment he directed that cause, and 
with what zeal and sacrifice, and with, considering 
the circumstances, what success he toiled and 
worked and spoke for it, history will I'ecord." 

As the movement in Mayo progressed — meet- 
insfs bein2: held each Sundav in the various 
parishes — the Catholic clergy were not long in 
coming to the aid of the people, as the following 
declarations will show. In May, at the monthly 
conference of the clergy of the Deanery of Tra- 



136 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

.lee, County Keny, the following resolution wa8 
adopted ; — 

" We, the Catholic clergy of the Tralee Deanery, in 
this trying season of agricultural distress, deem it our 
dut}* before we separate to record our solemn and delib- 
erate opinion, that the present year is the most disas- 
trous the tenant-farmers of Kerry have seen since the 
calamitous famine years of 1847 and 1848. The prevail- 
ing distress we believe to be owing principally^ to the fol- 
lowing causes : In the first place, to the excessive rents 
for the last twenty j^ears. There has been ver}' gener- 
all}' a steady increase of rents, that were already high 
enough, until the}- have been advanced to 50 or 100 
per cent. ; in some cases, even much ove^ the poor-law 
valuation. These exorbitant rents the tenants have 
struggled to pay as long as prices kept up and harvests 
proved favorable. But now that the prices of all kinds 
of agricultural produce have fallen 20 per cent, they 
find it utterly impossible to meet the extravagant rents 
the}' were heretofore obliged to Y)ay, — rents which we 
believe to be higher than in any other part of Ireland. 

" Again, we have had several bad harvests. The 
last harvest, particularl3',was one of the worst we have 
had for a long time. The potato crop all but failed, 
and what remained was not fit for human food ; while 
oats was the worst crop farmers had for 3'ears, being as 
much, or more, chaff than grain. When we add to this 
that the wages of farm servants and laborers and the 
expense of their support have trebled for the last few 
3'ears, we can form a fair idea of the difficulties with 
which agriculturists have to contend, Avhile the extraor- 
dinary severity of the last winter and spring, and 



LITE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 137 

which is felt even in this first week of June, has re- 
duced farming stock to a ver^^ low condition, and 
leaves ver3' little hope of the coming season proving a 
prosperous one. But it may be said that the present 
depression is only temporary, and that a good harvest 
or two will restore matters to their former equilibrium. 
We fear not ; because we apprehend that some, at least, 
of the causes are of a permanent character. We may 
hope, through God's mercy, for favorable seasons and 
good harvests ; but we cannot hope that the competi- 
tion of foreign producers on the Continents of both 
Europe and America will cease or become less active. 
On the contrary, we regard that competition as onlj' in 
its commencement. The English markets are as near 
to French, Belgian, or Dutch products as to us, or 
nearer ; while steam navigation has brought the vast 
Continent of America, with its free lands and light 
taxation, within eight days' sail of our shores. We, 
therefore, ask how it will be possible- for our tenant- 
farmers, overburdened as the\' are with excessive rents, 
heavy taxation, and high-farm wages, to compete suc- 
cessfully with their more-favored foreign competitors ? 
Plain common sense will tell us that the thing is im- 
possible, and, therefore, we may not expect to see 
again the high prices that have been obtained for the 
last few years. Now, if this state of things continue, 
the tenant-farnjers of Ireland must of necessitj'' go to 
the wall. Bankruptcy and ruin will speedily overtake 
them, and the country will be reduced to as bad a con- 
dition of things as that of the famine times. The land- 
lords have the salvation of the countrv in their hands. 
While times were prosperous, the tenants punctually 
and satisfactorily paid their rents ; and now that the 



138 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

times are adverse, we, the clerg}- of the people, most 
respectfully and earnestly implore the landlords to 
come to the relief of their suffering tenantry', and 
cmake such just and reasonable reductions in the rents 
as will enable the people to hold their ground, notwith- 
standing bad harvests, heavy taxation, high wages, 
and foreign competition." 



This was followed by like declarations from 
the Deaneries of Killaloe, Duiiijarvan, Cahirci- 
veon, Achoury, and Ossory, and later from many 
others. 

During the early stages of the agitation, the Brit- 
ish Parliament, as was usual with them, refused to 
pay any attention to the appeals for justice of the 
Irish members. So glaring was this, that, on the 
night of June ^6, 1879, John Bright caused quite 
a scene in the House of Commons by a speech in 
which he defended the conduct of the Irish mem- 
bers in obstructing the business of the House in 
order to compel attention to their demands. The 
Irish members in Parliament, he said, formed 
only an insignificant numerical minority in the 
House, and there were only two methods possible 
for them to obtain what the majority was disposed 
to refuse. One of these methods was to sell 
themselves to one of the two Englisli parties, and 
thus give to the purchaser the balance of power. 
The otlier was to exercise their parliamentary 
rights, and by the obstruction of business under 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 139 

the forms of the House to compel the majority to 
make concessions to them. 

That the land movement, now well under 
way, never for a moment lost sight of the main 
question of Irish libert^'^, will be seen from the 
following: On Sunday, June 15th, a great land 
demonstration took place at Milltown, County 
Galway, at which 14,000 people were present. 
The first resolution, which was proposed by Mr. 
Thomas Brennan, was ; — 

" That, as the people of Irelanc] have never ceased 
to demand theu' right of self-government, we hereby 
reiterate our resokition to labor for the same until our 
country has secured its attainment." 

In speaking to the resolution, Mr. Brennan 
said : — 

"The speech of the day — the most eloquent and 
significant speech — was not anything that would be 
said from that platform ; but it was the tramp of the 
might}^ multitude of earnest and determined men 
whom they saw marching there that day. When he 
saw that magnificent meeting, and saw their bold 
brows and hopeful faces, he thanked God that they 
were no longer slumbering slaves. Their presence 
there, notwithstanding landlords' frowns and agents' 
threats, proved that they knew their rights, and were 
determined to insist upon them. They met that day 
to declare the rights of th'eir country to national inde- 
pendence, and he believed that it was only in an Irish 



140 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

Senate their right to the ownership in the land would 
be recognized." 

The farmer's clubs throughout the country also 
fell into line, and by resolutions supported the 
movement, until they were finally absorbed in the 
local branches of the Land League. The farmers 
of the West were now fairly roused to a sense of 
their condition ; and their determination to resist 
rack-rents and eviction was decided. At a meet- 
ing of tenant-farmers held at Carnacon, Mayo, 
June 29th, to consider their condition, and take 
action against threatened evictions at Clougher- 
linch, the meeting adopted these resolutions : — 

"TVe, the tenant farmers of the Clougherlinch 
estates, respectfully request that his Excellency the 
Duke of Marlborough, Lord Lieutenant of L-eland, 
and his Secretar}^, Mr. James Lowther, do appoint a 
commission, who will visit and investigate our deplor- 
able condition, now ejected for non-payment of rent by 
far in excess of the actual value of our holdings. We 
are determined to pay fair rent in proportion to the 
present decreased value of agricultural produce ; but 
will hold out, constitutionally and legall}-, against the 
exaction of the rack-rents that have alread}- reduced 
us to actual starvation, thereby leaving us unfit to 
emigrate, and onlj' fit subjects for the workhouse, after 
the threatened evictions, which we are determined to 
resist at the sacrifice of our lives. 

"That we, the tenant farmers of the parishes of 
Carnacon, Ballintubber, and surrounding parishes, 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 141 

assembled, do indorse the resolutions in favor of fair 
rents passed at the Irishtown, Wostport, Milltown, 
Crossbo^-ne, and Maj^o Abbey meetings. We are 
furthermore resolved to keep up this agitation, despite 
of any opposition bj' Chofch or S^tate, until the ten- 
antry of this island are rooted in the soil by fair and 
constitutional laws, which will protect them from ca- 
pricious eviction or from rack-rents." 

The hanguage used in these resolutions is mod- 
erate, yet at the same time bold ami determined. 
Six months previously they would not have dared 
to use it. The land movement was only a few 
mouths begun, and this was the sort of fruit it 
was already bearing. The dark clouds of famine 
were beginning to be seen on the horizon in the 
summer of 1879. The condition of the farming 
districts was ftist becoming alarming. A corre- 
spondent of a leading American newspaper, who 
had been through the country, raised the follow- 
ing note of alarm in a communication from Ire- 
land to his paper, written in July. He said : — 

" Those who can recall the fearful scenes of miser^^ 
and destitution which prevailed in this country during 
the years 1847-4S, rendered remarkable by the failure 
of the potato crop, are not unlikely to witness a period 
almost as trying. A succession of bad seasons, ex- 
travagant rents, which are not only demanded, bat 
wrenched from the unfortunate tenantry at the point 
of the bayonet, and lowering prices on account of the 
vast increase iu the importation of all edible com- 



142 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

modlties, have reduced the condition of the farming 
classes' to a state bordering on bankruptc}', while the 
depression felt by the agricultural community has 
spread and continues to expand over all grades among 
the industrial classes. 

"Dark clouds, indeed, hover over the land ; and in 
nian^^ places thej- have descended, bringing starvation 
and positive ruin wherever the}' have fallen. Factories 
are closing in toto, the banks refuse to advance money 
except when unexceptionable securit_y is forthcoming, 
and, although some landlords are returning from ten to 
twenty-five per cent, of the rents, the vast majority 
must have their ' pound of flesh ; ' and thus there is 
ever}'- prospect of the country drifting into a state 
worse than what decimated it in the famine years 
already alluded to. Misery in its chrj'salis condition 
only has as j'^et made its hideous appearance in Ulster 
and Leinster ; but the vrestern portion of INIunster, and 
the entire province of Connaught, have alread}^ bowed 
down under the awful visitation. 

"F'rom inquiries which I have personally instituted 
in Ma^'o and Sligo, I can assert that in these counties 
the farming classes are on the threshold of the work- 
house. Unprofitable seasons have, as I have said, led 
to this ; but there is a contributar}' cause, and this is 
the S3'stem of credit which traders allowed, and which 
made the population anything but thrifty ; and now, 
that dark da3's have arrived, their energies are para- 
lyzed and efforts in any direction appear unavailing. 
That districts not as yet included in the scope on which 
desolation has come, must, in a short time, feel the ter- 
rible depression, is certain, unless Providence interposes. 
Within twelve months Leinster farmers have had their 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 143 

rents increased by more than twenty' per cent., and with 
fully thirtj' per cent, of a decrease in the value of all 
produce their position can be easil}' understood. Ire- 
land's oldest dulie, the head of the Geraldines, has led 
the way : and, just as the prospect of bad times had 
become assured, his representatives set to work to 
increase his rent-roll, the process being, in many cases, 
repeated in the short space of a dozen years. Agree- 
ments, comnionl}' called leases, were issued, only to 
make the heel of oppression the more keenly felt, as 
clauses, rendered legal by an abortive Land Act, were 
introduced to cripple the tenantry', and oust them from 
an}' claims which the most stupid enactment in the 
British statute-book contains. Rents are still forth- 
coming on some places ; but in the counties which I 
have named above, Sligo and Maj'O, the landlords 
have, in many instances, not a penn}'' to receive. Their 
own cruel misrule has turned on themselves, and, by 
impoverishing those b}' whom they had to live, they at 
last feel the biting of want. 

" Not a week ago an agent informed me that on the 
day he appointed for collection of rents he had not re- 
ceived a cent, nor does he see an}- prospect of paj-- 
ment. Monster meetings occur weekly, at which the 
people declare that thej- are willing and would have no 
difficulty to pay fair terms for their holdings. Of 
course, the landocracy hold aloof; but how long they 
can afford to do so remains to be seen. In the course 
of one year eight hundred ejectments have been served 
in Mayo alone ; so that, taking the small average of 
six to each family, we would have 4,800 persons in this 
county, alone, houseless, — cast on the wide world, with 
no other shelter in their own land save that afforded 



144 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

by the unions. On Sunday, the 29th of June, I at- 
tended a public meeting at Castlebar, which was pro- 
moted for the purpose of calling attention to the 
threatened evictions on the estate of Miss Crcan 
Lynch ; and on that occasion, a Mr. Daly, in speaking 
of the state of the district, said he challenged any 
commissioner from Dublin Castle, or elsewhere, to find 
within the walls of many of the )ieople who are to be 
evicted ' a second animal,' barring a cat, and in some 
cases he was aware that there was not sufficient food 
for the rat-watcher without pinching the suppl}' of 
some member of the family. 

" But it is useless to pursue this strain. It is patent 
to every one that tlie owners of property must either 
reduce their rents or take the land on their own hands. 
The}^ are not likely to adopt the latter course, and may 
err in postponing the former until it becomes too late. 
The importation of cattle and sheep weighs heavily on 
prices of beef and mutton ; but at the same time, if it 
were not for the supplies from America and Spain, 
meat would be a luxury only within the reach of the 
moneyed classes." 

In addition to the foregoing coramnnication, the 
following spirited address, signed by the priests 
and people of Connemara, and issued at Clifden, 
County Galway, Jul}' 2, will give an insight into 
the state of public feelmg then existing : — 

" No place has felt more than Clifden the neglect of 
successive governments, and in general the rigorous 
treatment by the landlords, of the poor, industrious 
tenants. We are bound to explain to the public how it 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITI. 145 

has happened that a monster meeting of the entire 
popuhition of Connemara has been deferred to anotlier 
day. The accident of the parade of military suggested 
the prudence of contenting ourselves at present with a 
smaller medium of proclaiming to the world and to the 
empire at large the wrongs and the wants of as pious, 
as patriotic, and as peaceable a population as can be 
found anywhere. A public meeting was fixed for this 
day, and the streams of people entering by all the ap- 
proaches to town gave abundant evidence that the 
meeting would be a monster one ; but the Government 
poured into our neighborhood and the town a posse of 
police, who, it appears, were sent to fight a*foe that 
proved imaginar}'. 

" We, the clergy and the people of Connemara, pro- 
claim to the world, that, as long as landlord injustice 
and ill-treatment from one class and utter neglect by 
the governing classes sliall continue, there will not 
and ought not to be any chance of popular content- 
ment nor of permanent peace. To heighten the bitter 
results arising from the manifold sources of misery 
here in Connemara, a new phase of anti-Catholic and 
.anti-Irish ascendancy is evidenced in the unquestion- 
able partiality of what are called the upper classes and 
their leaning to as vile and as detestable a system as 
curses any district under the sun. We allude to the 
troops of proselytizing vagabonds, who forfeit by their 
blasphemies and misconduct anything like good neigh- 
borhood from the inhabitants of any district cursed 
by their presence. We do hereby in conclusion, and 
without the parade of braggadocio, proclaim to all 
whom it may concern, we shall continue to agitate until 
the order of death by starvation and the slow process 



146 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

of hunger shall have vanished, and until death by 
eviction and extermination shall be drawn from within 
the right which landlords enjo}' ; that is, of perpetu- 
ating the hideous crime of murder by rack-rent and 
extermination. 

"The Rev. Dean McManus, P. P., V. G., Clifden ; 
the Eev. B. McAndrew, P. P., Ballinakill ; the Rev. 
Joseph J. R. Molonej^, P. P., Roundstone ; the Rev. 
Patrick Grealy, P. P., Carna ; the Rev. Michael 
O'Connell, C. C, Ballinakill ; the Rev. W. Rhatigan, 
C. C. Clifden ; the Rev. John J. Healy, C. A., Bokn ; 
the Rev. J. Qonnollj, C. C, Roundstone ; the Rev. T. 
Flanner;f, C. C, Clifden ; the Rev. P. Colgan, C. C, 
Carna ; Messrs. Peter John King (Honorable Secre- 
tary), John P. Darc}-, Cornelius King, Joseph Gor- 
ham, Kenned}' O'Brien, John M. LjTlcn, John J. Lj'den, 
Michael L3-den, William Casey, James Casey, Fenton 
Kavanagh." 

The Tory Government, up to this, affected to 
iunore the reports of distress and impending fam- 
me, and sought, as pointed out in the address from 
the Connemara clergy, to intimidate the land 
meetings. 

In the House of Commons, on the 26th of June, 
Mr. O'Connor Power asked the Chief Secretary 
for Ireland if he would inform the House on what 
authority he had formed his belief that the per- 
sons who took part in a recent tenant-right meet- 
ing, at Milltown, in the Count}^ of Galway, " were 
not tenant-farmers, and were unconnected with 
the neighborhood ; " and whether he would lay 



\ 



LIFE OF MICHiVEL DAVTTT. 147 

upon the table of the House copies of the instruc- 
tions given to Colonel l>ruce, Deputy Inspector- 
General of Constabulary, and the constabulary 
authorities in the West of Ireland, in reference to the 
land agitation going on in that part of the coun- 
try, so as to enable the House to express an 
opinion on the subject. Mr. Power said that 
"The agitation in Ireland was a grave one, which 
the Government were bound to notice ; but when 
the people asked for bread, and the- Government 
answ^ered their appeal with bullets, they would be 
held responsible for the peace of the country. 
The Government were willing to be guided by 
the opinions of the clergy in reference to the 
maintenance of order, but not with respect to the 
grievances of Ireland. He hoped the Chief Sec- 
retary would be warned to be more careful in the 
future as to the sources of his information. If 
the instructions asked for had reference to some- 
thing being done in Zululand, the refusal to pro- 
duce them would have been res^arded as an arbi- 
trary proceeding, which the House would not have 
tolerated. The people of Ireland had never had 
to deal with a more hateful power than that of the 
Conservative party and Government. They pro- 
posed to deal with the land question by shooting 
the people down. An extra police force, the 
cost of which was levied on the district, was the 
remedy of the Conservative party for the redress 



148 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

of Irish grievances. He moved the acljournmeut 
of the House." 

Mr. Parnell rose and seconded the motion, and 
said "The circumstances of the people of Ireland 
were so desperate that matters could not he al- 
lowed to go further without the subject being 
brought before the House. The Government 
had quartered a large force of constabulary on a 
people so distressed that they could not pay their 
rents." 

Mr. Mitchell Henry said "He could bear his 
own testimony to the wretched condition of the 
people in the West of Ireland, and the Minister 
should think less of winning the cheers of his fol- 
lowers, and more of the extreme misery existing 
in the country with which he was officially con- 
nected." 

During the early part of the agitation, Davitt 
•had many obstacles to contend against and over- 
come ; this he •was enabled to do from the absolute 
confidence which the masses of the people had in 
his honor and tried patriotism. In July, '79, he 
./ found it necessary to defend himself against an as- 
I'V persion from the great and good " Lion of the 
fl Fold," the Archbishop of Tuam. The Archbishop 
■ ' was suspicions of the leaders of the new move- 
ment, and no wonder, having so often seen the 
.people and their cause betrayed by blatant poli- 
ticians, who crept into government positions on 
the shoulders of popular agitations. But the 



LIFE OF MICn.VEL DAVITT. 149 

noble sentinel of Irisli honor and freedom did not 
then know the men who were leading the new liind 
movement. We believe no person wonld be 
readier now to do them justice than John of 
Tuam — if occasion demanded it. On June the 5th, 
the following letter from the Archbishop appeared 
in the Freeman's Journal : — 

"Dear Sir, — In a telegraphic message, exhibited 
towards the end of last week in a public room of this 
town, an Irish member of Parliament has unwittingly 
expressed his readiness to attend a meeting convened 
in a mj^sterious and disorderly manner, which is to be 
held, it seems, in "Westport, on Sunday next. Of the 
sympathy of the Catholic clergy for the rack-i'ented 
tenantry of Ireland, and of their willingness to co- 
operate earnestly' in redressing their grievances, abun- 
dant evidence exists in historic Mayo, as elsewhere. 
But night patrolling, acts and words of menace, with 
arms in hand, the profanation of what is most sacred 
in religion, — all the result of lawless and occult as- 
sociation, — eminentl}^ merit the solemn condemnation 
of the ministers of religion, as directly' tending to im- 
piot}- and disorder in church and in society. Against 
such combinations in this diocese, organized b}' a few 
designing men, who, instead of the well-being of the 
community, seek only to promote their personal in- 
terests, the faithful clergy will not fail to raise their 
warning voices, and to point out to the people that 
unhallowed combinations lead invariably to disaster 
and to the firmer riveting of the chains by which 
we are unhappily l)ound as a subordinate people to a 
dominant race. I remain, dear sir, faithfully 3-oars, 

JOHN, Archbitiho}) of Tuam. 



150 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

Again, in July 7, another letter, nddrcssed to 
Michael O'Doiiohue, C.C., M. J. Fitzgerald, P. 
Flanagan, Martin Curran, and Thomas Kelly, 
honorary secretaries of a large meeting of tenant- 
farmers, held in Ballyhaunis, was printed in the 
same newspaper ; it was as follows : — 

"St. Jarlath's, Tuam, July 7, 1879. 

" Gentlemen, — I beg leave to return my warmest 
acknowledgment to 5'our committee for their kind in- 
vitation to attend the great meeting to be held in 
Ballyhaunis on the 10th of August. 

" The rooting of the people in the soil of their own 
country, on equitable terms, is a question that must en- 
gage the earliest and earnest attention of the legisla- 
ture, as a measure essential to the peace and ha})piness 
of Ireland. Next to a repeal of the disastrous Union 
between Great Britain and Ireland, without which the 
condition of this countr}' will ever be that of a nation 
trampled under foot for the welfare of a people of 
anotlier land, beneficent legislation, defining the just 
rights of the landlords and tenants', is the measure 
dearest to the hearts of the people, the solution of 
which cannot be much longer deferred. 

" Let the tenant-farmers of Mayo, as of all Ireland, 
act judiaiously : let them be guided, as of old, by their 
faithful allies, the priests ; who, as a hody, in good re- 
port and in evil report, stood in the front ranks of the 
combat, sacrificing time and personal interests to the 
public welfare, with no other object in view but that of 
shielding the weaker members of society against the 
violence of their inveterate foes. 

"The patriotic spirit that at all times animated the 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 151 

breasts of both priests and people in Maj'O is as vigor- 
ous to-da}', and as free from baneful elements, as when 
they fought constitutionally^ against the insignificant 
shooneens and the powerful oligarchy of the country. 

" Let no attempt at dissevering so sacred a Union, 
fraught with blessings to the people, be tolerated. 

" In some parts of the country the people, in calmer 
moments, will not fail to be astonished at the circum- 
stance of finding themselves at the tail of a few un- 
known, strolling men, who, with affected grief, deploring 
the condition of the tenantry, seek only to mount to 
place and preferment on the shoulders of the people ; 
and, should tliey succeed in their ambitious designs, 
they would not hesitate to shake aside at once the 
instrument of their advancement as an unprofitable 
incumbrance. 

" I am glad to find, among the gentlemen invited to 
the meeting, the names of the patriotic proprietor of 
the Freeman's Joiirual, of the two universally respected 
members of the County Galway, and of the faithful 
Mr. Biggar. I miss one name from the list — a name 
that sheds lustre on a countr}- no less famed for the 
orator}- than for the seasonable courage of her sons — 
namely, Mr, A. M. Sullivan, M.P. 

"I remain, gentlemen, faithfull}" yours, 

JOHjS", Archhislwp of Tuam. 

To this letter INIr. Davitt found it necessaiy to 
reply ; and published the following respectful but 

manl}'^ answer : — 

"Dublin, July 10, 1879. 
"To the Editor of the Dublin Freeman, — There are 
few men to be found among our seemingly destiu}-- 



152 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

clivided people who would not prefer to lie under an 
uninerited rebuke, or remain silent to even uncalled-for 
aspersions upon their motives or actions, rather than 
utter a single word in defence, which might irritate or 
offend the venerated Archbishop of Tuam. But cen- 
sure from one who is looked upon as the patriarch of 
his race is "the more heavy from the certaint}' of its 
acceptance from the millions who love to call him such, 
as being deserved, and unbearable from a conscious- 
ness of its not being earned, in face of assertions, 
which, if left uncontradicted, would carr}'^ conviction to 
the contrarj'^to almost every Irishman's mind. Under 
these circumstances, and with nothing but respect for 
his personal worth and veneration for his years, I feel 
compelled to defend m5'self against the (to me) serious 
imputations contained in the following portion of his 
Grace's letter in this daj-'s Freeman: — 

"' ' In some parts of the country the people, in calmer 
moments, will not fail to be astonished at the cir- 
cumstance of finding themselves at the tail of a few 
nnknown, strolling men, who, with affected grief, deplor- 
ing the condition of the tenantry, seek only to mount 
to place and preferment on the shoulders of the people ; 
and, should they succeed in their ambitious designs, 
thoj^ would not hesitate to shake aside at once the in- 
strument of their advancement as an unprofitable 
incumbrance.' 

" As one who has taken part in the meetings to 
. which his Grace refers, I beg respectfully' to say that I 
am neither a strolling nor an unknown man in the 
West, but one who works for his dail3' bread, and who 
is known in Mayo, ni}- native county, where m.y rela- 
tives are now, in common with others, experiencing 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 153 

the severity of the times, and a want of that assist- 
ance in the struggle of life which a beneficial change 
in the land-laws of Ireland would afford them. Some 
twent3'-five 3'ears ago my father was ejected from a 
small holding near the parish of Straed, in Mayo, be- 
cause unable to pay a rent which the crippled state of 
his resources, after struggling through the famine 
3'ears, rendered impossible. Trials and sufferings in 
exile for a quarter of a centur}', in which I became 
physically disabled for life, a father's grave dug be- 
neath American soil, mj'self the only member of my 
family ever destined to live of die in Ireland, and this 
privilege existing onh* by virtue of ' ticket of leave/ 
are the consequence which followed that eviction. If 
all this but entitles me to an imputation of affected 
grief at the condition of the families of my kindred and 
others who are threatened with a fate similar to mine, 
I can only regret that fortune has not placed me in 
such a position in life where the mere knowledge of the 
miserable condition of the tenantr}' of Ireland, with- 
out undergoing its bitter, heart-crushing experiences, 
would entitle me to the credit of unaffected grief at the 
mendicant existence which an inhuman government 
and heartless land s^-stem inflicts upon our people. 
Men who merit the additional imputations of seeking 
onl}' to mount to place or preferment upon the shoul- 
ders of the people, invariabl3' ambition either to en- 
ter Parliament by their aid, or patrioticall3' dispose 
of themselves to the Government for anti-national 
services. 

" So far as the first of these ambitious designs is 
concerned, I am not qualified for. its perpetration, for 
two reasons : one being that, as I have been a ' treason 



154 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

felon,' I could not, on that account, sit in the ' first 
assembl}' of gentlemen in Europe ; ' and the second, but 
most particular one, is that, even if the foregoing dis- 
qualification were removed, I would never consent to 
misrepresent the aspirations of the Irish people in an 
English Parliament after representing my country's 
right to independence in England's prisons. A^ for 
au}^ other advancement on the people's shoulders, the 
onl}' one I am likely to obtain by their patronage will 
be in the direction of oakum-picking in Millbank, or 
stone-breaking in Dartmoor convict prison ; prefer- 
ments which, with their indignities and suffering, I am 
in a fair way of being convinced, are more easil}' 
borne than the imputations, insults, and injuries which 
the participant in Irish politics receives for his en- 
deavors. Yours, etc., "MICHAEL DAVITT." 



CHAPTER X. 

The Landloeds Refuse to Lower the Rents. — The 
Agitators Demand the Abolition of Landlordism. — 
Repeal op the Irish Convention Act. — The First 
National Convention held in Mavo to Forai a Land 
League. — Appeal to Irish-Americans. — Manifesto 
OF THE Trustees of the Irish National Fund. 

"Abject tears, and prayers submissive, — 
Have they eyes and cannot see? 
Never country gained her freedom 
When she sued on bended knee." 

— Lady Wilde. 

Notwithstanding the public and private ap- 
peals made to the landlords for reductions of the 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 155 

rack-rents exacted from the people, very few of 
them responded ; instead of doing so, they cried 
out for coercion and their filll "pound of liesh." 
Numbers of English and Scotch land-owners had 
reduced their rents, owing to the low prices re- 
ceived by the farmers for home produce, in con- 
sequence of the great qnantities of provisions 
daily imported from America. Not so with the 
Irish landlords : they met the popular cry for low 
rents in a different manner. At the Summer As- 
sizes in Mayo, held about the end of Julj^ the 
grand jury — all of whom are landlords — passed 
the following resolution : — 

" Resolved^ That the judge of the assize having, in his 
charge to us, spoken in the strongest terms of the 
state of this count}', we feel it our duty before sep- 
arating to call the attention of the Government to the 
unsettled state of the county, and to the serious agita- 
tion against the payment of rents without regard to 
the rate or time at which the lands were let, or to the 
other circumstances connected therewith. This illegal 
design is pursued by a system of wholesale intimida- 
tion b}' words and acts of menace, and by violent 
speeches, exciting the people to outrages against both 
landlords and tenants. We think these evils cannot 
be effectually removed without additional powers being 
conferred on the executive b}' Parliament. Our fore- 
man is requested to forward copies of this resolution 
to the Chief Secretary for Ireland, and to the Lieuten- 
ant for the county, the Earl of Lucan. Passed unan- 
imously. — (Signed), J. T. Browne, Foreman." 



156 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

Such a response as this, and others like it, acted 
as a spur to the agitation ; so that the demands 
made from the public platforms at the great 
meetings becamfe sterner and more exacting. At 
a/ meeting of the priests and people, held in Clnre- 
ftiorris on July 13th, in response to a resolution 
demanding that the weight of the agricultural de- 
pression should be borne equally by the landlords 
and the tenants, Mr. Davittsaid: — 

" They were assembled to advocate eyevj plank of 
the platform laid down at the Irishtown, Westport, and 
Milltown meetings. Canon Bourke bad given them 
ver}' excellent advice when he told them to deport 
themselves as men who were entitled to their freedom. 
He [the speaker], though he went farther in Irish 
politics than Canon Bourke, did not wish to add a word 
to that. They had been told that inflammatory lan- 
guage had been used at previous meetings ; but he 
asked the Government to point to any outrages that 
had resulted from it. They had been called ' Commun- 
ists ' and 'Fenians' because they asked the right to live 
in Ireland ; but they might retaliate, and ask what 
right landlords have to the soil, and they would find 
it ver}^ difficult to get convincing proofs from Lord 
Sligo, Lord Lucan, Sir Roger Palmer, or Lord Oran- 
/more. They had been up to this too moderate. The}' 
had simply asked for a reduction of rents wliich was 
utterly impossible for them to pa}-. John Stuart Mill 
said rent was the surplus of the profits that came from 
the tenant's industry' and outlay in tilling the soil. 
Where was this surplus of profits in Ireland to-da} ? 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 157 

In face of the depreciation of produce and large impor- 
tations from America, he did not say they were justi- 
fied in paying no rent at nil ; but he did not say that a 
time might not come when they would have to make a 
protest as a nation against paying salary to a caste in 
Ireland that were fulfilling the duties of a landlord 
garrison. The old cry of 'Fixity of tenure at fair 
rents ' would do no longer. They must tell the Eng- 
lish Legislature that the concession they gave would 
be taken as instalments only of their just demands, and 
they must not be satisfied with their representatives 
unless they supiwrted the full demand, that the soil of 
Ireland should be returned to the people of Ireland. 
Mr. Lowther had tried to cast a stigma on his 
character by describing him as a ' ticket-of-leave man ; ■' 
but as long as chief secretaries had only insults 
to offer to Irish demands, and as long as the iuggling: 
legislation of Lord Beaconsfield could even make a sub- 
ject of play of the hierarchy of Ireland a great question, 
so long would ' ticket-of-leave men ' for political 
offences be cherished in Irish hearts. The}' must or- 
ganize their strength openly and above-board. There 
was no necessity for occult meetings ; but there was a 
necessity for determined organizations, and a double 
necessity that organization should be utilized judicious- 
ly and eff'ectually in order to break down the structure 
of landlordism which had cursed and depopulated Ire- 
land, until they bequeathed an emancipated soil to their 
children and a regenerated Ireland to posterity." 

And again, at a great land meeting held in 
Shrulc, Sunday, July 27, Mr. Davitt proposed the 
following resolution : — 



158 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

" That, as onr country has never forfeited the riglit 
to be mistress of her own destinies, nor abandoned her 
resolve to struggle for the recovery of the proud pre- 
rogative of a nation, we hereby declare self-government 
to be the inalienable right and the chief want of Ire- 
land." 

In speaking in its support, he delivered a 
spirited address, in which he said, — 

" This successful expose of the inhuman land system, 
hy which Ireland is cursed and her people impover- 
ished, is both encouraging and hopeful, and must l)e 
persevered in until the public opinion of the civilized 
world shall seize landlordism b}' the throat and compel 
it to disgorge the plundered heritage of a suffed'ing peo- 
ple. A reduction of rents may tide 3'ou over the pres- 
ent crisis, and procure joxx a little relief from an epi- 
demic form of the land evil ; but what the prosperity of 
your country and^the social amelioration of j'ourselves 
and children demand is a remedy for the evil itself, a 
total eradication of a chronic malady which has eaten 
to the very vitals of Ireland, paralyzed her energies, 
and condemned her people to almost perpetual destitu- 
tion. The principle of sacrificing private interests to 
the good of the masses, and establishing government 
on the basis of the people, is that which enlightened 
statesmanship has ahva^'s propounded as a preventive 
to revolution, or even acted upon in obedience to the 
growing necessities of an awakening civilization. Such 
a principle has been acted upon in Ireland, to some ex- 
tent at least. Such a change as making the tiller of 
the soil the proprietor has been eli'ected in most conti- 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 159 

ncntal countries, with results so satisfactory to the 
peoi)lc and government that there never will be a feudal 
S3-stcm again tolerated by or forced upon those who 
have been freed from its accursed tyranny. Name the 
institution which the lords of the soil have raised in 
tliis countr}' for the moral and intellectual elevation of 
the people. What encouragement is given to the social 
progress of Ireland in return for the twenty millions 
annual rental which landlordism extracts from its soil? 
Landlords' mansions, prisons, workhouses, and con- 
stabulary barracks occupy the place where laborers' 
institutes, agricultural societies, hospitals, and gymna- 
siums should stand, if landlordism were not robbing 
the Irish nation of twenty million pounds CA'ery jeav. 
These are some of the answers which apologists for 
that system would have received if they ventured 
to plead for its continued toleration. Your fight 
is against a sj'stem which will be held to hy the 
landlords like grim death. Organize, unite, and 
sap its foundation by intelligent and persevering opera- 
tion. Expose its inhuman structure to the world. In 
the words of the ilkistrious Mitchel, 'Act as if every 
tillage farm in Ireland was a fortress to be held, not 
for the occupant and the landlord onl}', but for the 
country'.' Whether Ireland is to become a free nation 
or not, or her land emancipated, depends upon the way 
in which the garrison of farmers acquit themselves, and 
stand upon their right to the soil of the fatherland, and 
to the fruits of the labor b^^ which they cultivated it." 

The agitation now rapidly spread through the 
wljole south of Ireland, causing alarm to the land- 
lords and the British Government, andpeople be- 



160 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

gan to inquire to what the national movement 
Would tend. At the great monster meetings held 
each Sunday in the various counties, the reformers 
demanded the al)olitiou of the existing land code, 
and the substitution in its place of such a system 
as would establish the cultivator of the soil as its 
proprietor ; they demanded the total abolition of 
the landlord system. These demands were re- 
echoed and indorsed b}^ the priests and the press. 
Amongst the resolutions passed at a meeting held 
in Balla, Ma3'o, on Lady Day (August 15), was 
one which reads thus ;-.- 

" That as the laud laws of this country were con- 
ceived in a spirit of hostilitj' to the well-being of its 
people, and are enforced with a total disregard to the 
social right and necessities of the tiller of the soil, we 
demand their abolition as an act of justice, as well as 
an indispensable requisite to the contentment and pros- 
perity of Ireland, and the substitution of a small pro- 
prietary^ S3'stem, which will protect the fruits of the 
farmer's industr}- by placing him in the undisputed 
possession of the land he cultivates." 

This is a sample of those adopted at the other 
meetings. 

A most important event occurred in the session 
of Parliament just closed ; namely, the repeal of the 
Convention Act. It was eighty-six years since 
the people of Ireland held a convention for the 
discussion of their national affairs ; in 1793 the 
Irish Convention Act was passed for the purpose 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 1(11 

of preventing them from deliberating upon their 
political afiairs. This incident was speedily taken 
advantage of by Michael Davitt to start the 
National Land League in Mayo ; and also at a 
ijieeting of tlie Home Rule League in Dublin, 
September 11, it was decided to hold a National 
Convention the following February, before the 
meeting of Parliament. Mr. Parnell, in his speech 
at the meeting, said, — 

" Unless we unite to a great extent all shades of 
political opinion in the country, I fail to see how we 
can expect ever to attain to national independence ; 
and I think now, when we are considerhig what we are 
to do for the future, when we are taking this very 
important stop, we should endeavor to bring along 
with us as many men as possible of all shades of opin- 
ion, — we should endeavor to close up our ranks, and 
not create unnecessary stumbling-blocks in the way of 
men joining the national movement, who otherwise 
might be disposed to join it, but who are prevented by 
one cause or another from taking part in the work." 

The first Irish convention since the repeal of 
the act was held on x\ugust 16 by the farmers 
of Mayo. Over fifty delegates attended, repre- 
senting twenty-four districts in the county, the ob- 
ject being to establish a National Land League. 
Mr. Louden, barrister, of Westport, who presided, 
said the object of their present movement was the 
abolition of landlordism and the substitution for it 
of a peasant proprietary. At the approaching 



162 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

election they would vote for no candidate whose 
ciy would not be " the land for the people." The 
rules for the proposed club, drawn up by Mr. 
Michael Davitt, were adopted by the meetini}:. 
In the manifesto, also adopted, it was stated that 
the object of the club would be to expose landlord 
injustice wherever it existed, and to act as a vigi- 
lance committee on the Members of Parliament, 
Grand Jurors, and representative bodies of the 
County Mayo. It was decided to print and circu- 
late returns of the number of landlords in the 
county, the acreage each possessed, and how the 
land was acquired by them ; the excess of rent 
paid by the tenants over the government valua- 
tion ; to publish, by placard, notices of contem- 
plated evictions, and convene public meetings at 
the scene and time of these evictions ; to pnblish 
full particulars of all cases of eviction and rack- 
rent, with the name of the landlord and agent ; 
to publish the names of all persons who took land, 
or bid for land, from which the tenants had been 
evicted ; and, finally, to pul)lish particulars of all 
acts of kindness or justice on the part of landlords. 
Mr. Davitt said that the soil by right and jus- 
tice belonged to the people of Ireland who tilled 
it ; 3'et twelve Irish landlords owned between them 
one million three hundred acres, and live millions 
of Irish tillers of the soil did not own a single 
acre. The farmers of Ireland did not ask that the 
landlords' interest in the land should be coufis- 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 1G3 

cated, but simply asked that compensation should 
be given the landlords for those rights when the 
state, for the peace, benefit, and happiness of the 
peo[)le, should decree the abolition of the present 
landlords. The establishment of a peasant pro- 
prietary was the only thing that would satisfy the 
people of Ireland. 

This was Davitt's first start of the Irish National 
Land League in Ireland, in a concrete form ; and 
the occasion was a fitting one, being the first con- 
vention held in Ireland for nearly ninety years ! 
It augured well for the future success of the move- 
ment. 

The agitation in September and October, 1879, 
became intense ; it had spread through the entire 
South, and the North was beginning to wake up, 
and demand low rents. The distress, now becom- 
ing prevalent throughout the West, was attracting 
great attention and sympathy from other coun- 
tries ; and the Government, true to its routine rec- 
ord in such emergencies, was pouring thousands 
of troops into the country. The monster land 
meetings were attended by vast multitudes, num- 
bering from ten to forty thousand people at each 
meeting. Davitt all the while was working un- 
ceasingly, attending and speaking at all the meet- 
ings he could reach, everywhere infusing vigor 
and determination into the people. On October 
5, at a meeting in Ballinrobe, Maj^o, address- 
ing twenty thousand people, defending himself 
against landlord slanders, he said: — 



164 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

" That magnificent gathering was the answer which , 
the manhood of Mayo returned to the shinders heaped 
on that county. He had the honor of attending most 
of the meetings held in Mayo since the inauguration 
of that movement ; and he hurled back with scorn and 
contempt the charge that he had used words which 
had, directly or indirectly, encouraged the commission 
of acts of violence. He had always insisted that the 
man who would commit offence in connection with 
that movement would injure the cause he thought of 
advocating. He deliberately charged the landlord 
system with t!ie murder of two millions of Irish 
people, with the forced exile of two millions more, 
and with the impoverishment and misery of two- 
thirds of the people whom it had left alive; and he 
declared that such a system stood convicted before 
high heav.en as infamous and inhurnan, and that it was 
a duty incumbent on every one of its living victims to 
work and labor unceasingly until that system was 
abolished in Ireland." 

Mr. Parnell and his associate Home Rulers is- 
sued the following appeal for aid to the Irish in 
America and elsewhere, October 8 : — 

" The land and rent agitation which has originated 
in the West of Ireland, and is rapidly spreading 
throughout the countr}^, has now assumed such national 
proportions that it becomes a question of first impor- 
tance, to all who sj'mpathize with its legitimate objects, 
how best to guide the popular movement to the attain- 
ment of those ends. Temporary abatements of exces- 
sive rents are being, and may continue to be, obtained 
through the various agencies of a sympathetic but un- 



LIFE OF IMICIIAEL DAVITT. 1G5 

organized advocucj', whicla the existing widespread and 
alarming distress elicits from the press and bodies of 
the communitj' ; but, without the creation of some con- 
stituted guide or directing influence, the primary if 
not the solo cause of the existing poverty of the agri- 
cultural classes will not be removed. • Independent of 
the effect which the products of the vast free lands of 
America and other favored countries must have in com- 
petition with the produce created under rent-tied and 
paral3'zing conditions in Ireland, almost all the evils 
under which her people suflTer are referable to a land 
sj'stem glaringl3' antagonistic to the first principles of 
justice and fair government, which place the good of 
the greatest number above the privileged gratification 
of the few. Landlordism, founded us an institution of 
systematic partiality, has proved itself but too true to 
the spirit of its origin, by reduoing all who are depen- 
dent on, but unprotected bj' ownership of, the soil. 
to a degraded, semi-mendicant existence, and in ad- 
dition induces the loss of that independent character 
which arises from an independence of position. The 
duties which feudal laws and customs exacted, in re- 
turn from those in whom they recognized certain arbi- 
trarv rights, have been ignored by Irish landlordism 
in its relations to the soil and those dependent upon 
the fruits of its cultivation, thus adding to the other 
indictments against the s^'stem a non-fulfilment of es- 
sential obligations. Any land S3-stcm which does not 
tend to improve the value of land, and enable cultivation 
to meet the exigencies of those dependent upon its 
produce, stantls self-condemned as barbarous, unjust, 
and re|)rehensiblc. 

" The diminished population of our country-, the 



1G6 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

millions of our ra.ce who perished in, or fieri from, a 
land in which God intended they should not die by 
hunger; the continued struggle with poverty which 
those have to maintain who yet cling to their native 
soil ; and the periodic climaxation of the impoverish- 
ing influences which landlordism exercises upon the 
social life of Ireland, — demand at last, in face of jet 
another impending national calamit}', the application 
of a remedy which can no longer be denied the salva- 
tion of a people. In contrast to the social wretched- 
ness to which a barbarous land sj'stem has reduced our 
countr}' is the rapidly progressing prosperit}' of those 
people at whose demand, or for whose benefit, such a 
sj'stem has been swept awaj-, and the cultivator of the 
soil has replaced the landlord as its proprietor. The 
surplus produce of lands thus freed, with agricultural 
industr}' thus relieved from its rent taxation, is now 
placed, by easy transit over sea and land, in competi- 
tion with what is produced under conditions of land 
tenure the most unfavorable, and incentives to toil the 
least encouraging that ever regulated the chief indus- 
try' of any civilized countrj'. When to this is added 
the adverse influences of successive bad seasons, on the 
point of culminating in what threatens to be the worst 
3'et experienced since famine years, the position of the 
Irish farmer and those depending upon the fruits of 
his enterprise and labor assunies an aspect of menac- 
ing ruin, which to consider as transient or accidental 
would be a criminal disregard of the vital existence of 
a people. Impelled b}- the desperate circumstances of 
their situation, the farming and other classes concerned 
have proclaimed their grievances in public meetings 
and by the press, demanding the remedies which alone 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 167 

can redress them. A consensus of opinion, apart from 
immediate interestedness, has declared that the remedy 
put forward by the present agitation is founded on 
justice, reason, and expediency, and that its applica- 
tion is absolutely essential to meet the evils complained 
ofand iusure the prosperit}' and contentment of Ireland. 
In formulating a demand for ownership of the soil b}' 
the occu[)iers in substitution for that of the landlords, 
the people of Ireland neither contemplate nor ask for 
the confiscation of those proprietorial rights which 
existing laws must necessarily recognize and protect, 
lint that, for the transfer of those rights to an industrial 
ownership, a fair compensation ma}' be given to those 
who shall be called upon to agree to such transfer for 
the settlement of the agrarian strife of the country 
and the sui)reme good of its people. To carry out a 
l^roject as vast as that which we contemplate must re- 
quire means in proportion to the difficulties that must 
be encountered in the undertaking. Tenants' defence 
associations must be organized in ever}- count}', and 
assistance be rendered to farmers who ma}^ be called 
upon to defend themselves against an unjust or ca- 
pricious exercise of landlord power. The wealth of Ire- 
land is almost entirely in the hands of that class which 
we propose, for the good of the country', to deprive ©f 
the absolute possession of the soil ; and it is but 
natural to expect that strong and influential opposition 
will be offered by those who will be called upon to sur- 
render the privileges thc}^ have so long enjoyed, — even 
in virtue of compensation and expedienc}'. To meet 
this opposition, and guide the national movement for 
freeing the land of Ireland, assistance of two kinds 
must be forthcoming ; the one, and most essential kind, 



1G8 LIFE OF MICHAEL iDAVITT. 

is an organized development of earnestness, and a re- 
solute attitude on the part of the GOO, 000 landless 
farmers of Ireland, as well as those whose daily bread 
depends upon the prosperit}' of their fatherland, in de- 
manding their just rights as guaranteed in the settle- 
ment we propose. The second aid required is money. 
Neither has ever been wanting when the national 
spirit of our country and the patriotism of her exiled 
sons have been appealed to in a patriotic cause; and we 
are confident they will not be withheld now when tlie 
very soil of Ireland is the object we desire to free, 
and the land slavery of our people the thing we are 
resolved shall be abolished forever. None of our 
race have had such bitter experience of the wrongs of 
landlordism as those who have been compelled to 
seek abroad the food denied at home, and none should 
more readily and generously sympathize with those 
who are resolved to retain a firm grij) of their Irish 
homesteads than the exiled, who were forced by in- 
iquitous laws to leave them. 

"In the great Shelter Land of Peoples 10,000,000 
of the Irish race have found a home. The system we 
aspire to abolish has banislied them from Ireland. 
Benefiting by laws which afford equal protection 
and encouragement to all citizens of the great Re- 
public of America, they can appreciate the efforts 
which aim at affording equal incentives to progress 
to their crushed and persecuted kindred here. Not 
alone to our feno\v-countr3'men in America, but to all 
whom evil laws have scattered the world over, as well 
as to all other nationalities who sympathize with a 
wronged and impoverished people who at last are re- 
solved upon a remedy for the evils afflicting them, do 



LIFE Oi* MICILVEL DAVITT. 1C9 

WO call for an advocacy of our cause, and support in 
our efforts to achieve success. In constituting our- 
selves a committee for the purpose of carrying out 
this work, we are animated with but one desire, — to 
aid the tenants-farmers, and those depending upon the 
soil of Ireland, to lift themselves from the misery and 
social degradation in which they are plunged, into a 
position where the notice to quit and the rack-rent 
will not operate against their industry, security, and 
contentment. We are influenced by no party-spirit 
in making this appeal, nor do we in any way purpose 
to place this committee in antagonism with existing 
bodies or organizations employed in other depart- 
ments of national labor. To free the land of Ireland 
• 

from the i;nwise and unjust restrictions which mili- 
tate against its proper cultivation and prevent tlie 
development of its full resources should be a labor 
above the customary influences of party or sectional 
strife, and be guided alone by motives of disinterested 
effort for the benefit of our common country, and the 
improvement, contentment, and prosperity of the-'' 
greatest number of our fellow-countrj'men. The 
grounds upon which we feel authorized to issue this 
a})peal are the fact of our being either directly or 
indirectly connected with the agitation which has 
sprung from the distress that has evoked a national 
condemnation of the present land system. As this 
land movement has won an indorsement from public 
opinion of an occupier proprietary settlement of the 
land question, those who have advocated such a rem- 
edy prior to and in conjunction with the national 
demand now made for it, feel themselves justified in 
taking such steps as may be best calculated to insure 



170 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

its application to the existing land evils of our coun- 
try. In pursuance of this intention, we issue this 
a])peal to Irishmen the world over, and to those who 
sympathize with the object in view, to aid us in our 
efforts to obtain for our people the possession of an 
unfettered soil, and for Ireland the benefits which 
must result from an unrestricted development of its 
products and resources." 

The appeal was signed by Messrs. Parnell, 
O'Connor Power, Finnegan, Biggar, and others. 
It evoked much sympathy. New York at once 
responded by guaranteeing $250,000 if an Irish 
]\Ieniber of Parliament of the advanced party 
would visit the United States. Two days before 
the appeal was issued in Ireland, a great meeting 
of Irish-Americans was held in Fanenii Hall, 
r)Oston, to express sympathy and tender aid to the 
struggling tenant-farmers in Ireland, at which the 
following resolution was adopted : — 

" Whekeas, News has reached us across the At- 
lantic that the people of Ireland are working with 
unexampled unanimity to obtain local self-government 
and the abolishment of feudal landlordism, 

" liesolved, That we, the citizens of Boston, native 
and foroign-born, who enjoy these inestimable bless- 
ings in this land, in Faneuil Hall assembled, send 
back <^)ur sympathies and pledge ourselves to a sub- 
stantial snjtport of the tenant-farmers of Ireland in 
their noble and patriotic efforts." 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 171 

The Chairman of the meeting read a letter 
from Mr. Davitt, which said, — 

" This land a<:;itation is destined to do more for 
Irehmd than all the movements since '98. The entire 
conntr}' has accepted the proposal for abolishing land- 
lordism. All the known and active Nationals will 
combine. A convention is shortly to be summoned, 
which will endeavor to weld the two sections of Na- 
tional politicians into one." 

It was decided in October that Mr. Parnell 
should visit the United States, and personally 
state the case of his countrymen then in the 
midst of a <rigantic struggle for bread, and free- 
dom from landlord tyranny. The famine cloud 
was beginning to cast its dark shadow on the 
land, and there was no hope of saving the lives 
of thousands of the small farmers and laborers, 
except i)y outside aid, — nothing was expected 
from the British Government, and next to nothing 
was got. 

The trustees of the "skirmishing" or Irish Na- 
tional Fund issued an important manifesto on the 
Irish question, in October, which did a great deal 
towards arousing the Irish-American people into 
active S3'mpathy with the Irish struggle. The 
document deserves to be remend)crecl, as it is but 
rarely we have an emanation of the kind from 
such names as are appended to it The mani- 
festo is as follows : — 



172 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

" New York, Oct. 11th, 1879. 
" To THE Irish People op the United States. 

'■'•Fellow-Countrymen^ — The threatening aspect of 
affairs in Ireland calls for prompt and vigorous action 
on the part of Nationalists in this country. It is no 
time for idle talk, but for serious preparation for the 
stern work that is before us. The National move- 
ment is fast approaching a crisis when its members 
must be prepared to make larger sacrifices, and work 
with redoubled zeal, so that the hour of trial may not 
find them unprepared. 

" In view of the change in the situation, it has been 
decided, with the concurrence of several trusted 
friends in the National party, to enlarge. the Board 
of Trustees of the National Fund, and to appeal once 
more to the Irish people here for their su])port. 

" The National Fund was started with a view to 
providing means to strike a telling blow against Eng- 
land whenever an opportunity should present itself. 
Its object was at first distinct from the general move- 
ment for Irish independence, and not influenced l)y 
any particular crisis in Ireland calling for immediate 
action. Its originators never calculated that it should 
perform more than a small portion of the work of 
driving the foreigner from the soil of Ireland. It was 
intended, in short, to hasten, if possible, the advent 
of Ireland's opportunity, by inflicting injury on Eng- 
land at vital points and at critical moments, while 
showing the Irish people the immense power lying 
unappreciated in their hands for the destruction of 
that empire which has robbed them of land and 
liberty, and driven them homeless over the earth. 

""The call was responded to chiefly by that class of 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 173 

the Irish people in America wlio can least affonl 
pecuniary sacrifices, and under the pressure of unpre- 
cedentedly hard times. There was no apparent pros- 
pect, except for a very brief period, of England 
becoming involved in foreign war;, no evidence of 
vigorous political life in Ireland ; no unusual danger 
menacing our countrymen at home ; nothing, in short, 
to stimulate Irish-Americans to unusual activity : and 
yet, taking all the citcurastances into account, the 
amount subscribed was very creditable. It was 
enough to show that, under more favorable conditions, 
and with an object the proximate realization of which 
could be made clear to the majority, of our people, — 
with, above all, the evidence of vigor, determination, 
and steadiness of purpose in the political life of Ire- 
land — Irish-America would be prepared to do its whole 
duty, and would sustain the struggle for the i-egener- 
ation of the old land with its last dollar and its last 
man. 

"The amount contnbuted, however, though larger 
than was anticipated, and sufficient to carry out some 
of the minor things indicated by its founders, would 
not warrant the undertaking of such enterprises as 
would inflict real and lasting injury on our enemies or 
be of real benefit to Ireland. It was determined that 
when operations of this nature wei*e commenced we 
should be able to deliver blow after blow with crush- 
ing effect ; and that, once begun, the work should go 
on till the power of England should be so crippled 
that our countrymen at home would not have the 
same odds against them as at present. It was seen, 
also, that the commencement of such woik would 
force on a crisis in Irish national affairs, and that the 



174 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

National party would be compelled by the circum- 
stances thus created to take action for which they 
M'ere not prepared. After earnest consultation with 
the trusted men of the National party, it was decided 
that preparatory steps only should be taken, and that 
all action likely to precipitate a crisis in Ireland 
should be postponed to a more fitting opportunity. 
It Is only by the closest union and the most complete 
concert of action that the Irish people can hope to 
succeed in overthrowing English domination ; and all 
the branches of the National party must act as the 
divisions of an army, animated by a common purpose, 
and guided by an authority whom all must recognize, 
towards the point where the enemy is to be met. 

"Such was the position of the National Fund from 
its foundation to a few short weeks ago. Since then 
the whole situation of affairs has changed. New 
duties are imposed on us, new sacrifices demanded. 
Ireland is face to face with one of the greatest crises 
in her history. Her people are menaced with exter- 
mination, and appeal to their expatriated kindred for 
help in this, their hour of sorest need. 

" The foreign landlord system, which" has cursed 
the country since the final triumi)h of English rule, 
and dwarfed the energies of a peo])le endowed with 
natural gifts fitting them for one of the highest 
places among the races of the world, has at length 
reached the climax of its infamous history, and re- 
duced the people to the verge of beggary. 

" Bad seasons and the competition of American 
produce perform but a minor part in the desolation 
which now overspi'eads Ireland. It is the foreign 
landlords, the inheritors of the successive robberies of 



LIFE OF IsnCITAEL DAYITT. 175 

TudovR, Staarts, Cromwellians, and Williamites, — an 
idle horde who perform no useful function in tlie 
land, — wlio drain the life-ldood of the nation, and 
render it incapable of resisting even the most tran- 
sient depression of trade or the effects of one bad 
season. Remove the blight of landlordism, make the 
tiller of the soil independent of the caprices of a petty 
autocrat, with no one to stand between him and a 
government which shall be the expression of the will 
of the whole people, and his quick intelligence and 
strong arm will provide from the teeming soil of his 
native land ample remedies against bad seasons and 
foreign competition. 

" Such a revolution the English Govemment and 
the English landlords of Ireland will never consent 
to. It can only be accomplished by the complete 
overthrow of British power in Ireland. But it must 
be plain to every thinking Irishman that the day of 
our final deliverance from English rule and from Eng- 
lish landlordism has not yet come. Our enemy must 
be more beset by difficulties than at present, and 
the whole Irish race the world over must be aroused 
and thoroughly organized for the effort. Without 
being too sanguine, we are satisfied that our oppor- 
tunity is fast approaching, and that our duty is to 
wait for its certain advent. The duty of preparing 
for that event devolves on the organized Nationalists; 
but the danger which menaces a large section of our 
countrymen at home imposes a duty on us that it 
would be cowardly to shirk. 

" Troops are being hurried to Ireland, and a reign 
of terror is about to be inaugurated. The impover- 
ished people Lave no money to pay the exorbitant 



176 LIFE OF RltCHAEL DAVITT. 

rent demanded of them, and preparations are being 
made to drive them off the land at the point of the 
bayonet. Day after day brings news of fresh bodies 
of infantry and cavalry being drafted into the rural 
districts. There lias been no disorder among the 
people, nothing to justify the resort to coercive 
measures; but the Government expects that, driven 
to extremity, the afflicted people may i-efuse to leave 
their homes. A mere refusal to leave their homes 
may be the signal for the slaughter of the people, and 
the English Government expects thus to stifle the 
voice of the country and crush for a generation the 
spirit of resistance to wrong. - 

"Irishmen of America, M'ill you stand tamely by- 
while your countrymen at home are being butchered, 
or Avill you come to their assistance and enable them 
to stand by their households ? 

"Victims of landlord tyranny ! look ba<;k to yonr 
shattered roof-trees and desolated hearths ; remember 
the horrors of the eviction which scattered your kin- 
dred through' foreign lands, and resolve to save those 
you have left behind you from a similar fate. You 
can at least supply them with the means of avenging 
the murder of their friends and neighbors, and of be- 
ginning a movement that will end in the destruction 
of that landlord system which has blighted one of the 
fairest lands on this earth, and inflicted centuries of 
misery on your race. 

" Survivors of '47, have you foi-gotten the conntless 
horrors of the famine, and the weary 3'ears of suffering 
and soiTOw that followed it? Can j'ou think of your 
murdered kindred without a burning desire to avenge 
them? Does the memory of the hunger pang, the 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 177 

pestilence, the reeking emigrant ship, and the ghastly 
fever-shed arouse no righteous indignation in 3'our 
souls ; and can j'ou calml}' contemplate a repetition of 
these horrible scenes in the persons of the generation 
which has grown to manhood since then ? Remember 
that English landlordism in Ireland was the chief cause 
of that famine, and that to-da}' it is as cruel and re- 
lentless a monster as ever. It menaces the very 
existence of our people, and must be destro3'ed7" You 
who have suffered most from its blighting influence 
should make yourselves missionaries of retribution, 
and arouse 3'our countrymen to the necessity of its 
final extirpation. 

" Irishmen of all creeds, this is no sectarian strife, 
but a struggle for human rights, in which all have 
equal interests to maintain, common dangers to face, 
and common enemies to overcome. Those whose 
fathers settled among us in the times of confiscation 
have acquired a title to the land they till by their labor, 
have mixed with the people, and become as Irish as we. 
To-daj' we recognize no distinction of religion, and 
hope to see the feuds of the past forever buried. 

" We do not wish to provoke a hopeless resistance ; 
but wholesale evictions at the bayonet's point are sure 
to end in bloodshed, and many will prefer to die like 
men, defending their homes from the foreign robber, 
than to live paupers in the workhouse, or starve by 
the roadside. The action evidently contemplated by 
the English Government may provoke such a conflict 
between the people and the foreign soldier}^ as will 
precipitate a -general movement. This is a danger 
which must be foreseen and i)rovided for. 

" In the event of such a conflict, the funds at our 



178 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

disposal shall be used to enable the people to stand by 
their homes, to strike down the robber rule of the land- 
lord, and to inflict speedj' punishment for acts of 
cruelt}' or murder. We know the consequences of the 
steps it ma}- be necessary' to take, and do not hesitate to 
assume the responsibilit3^ Will 3-ou share that re- 
si)onsibility with us, and enable us to take really effec- 
tive measures by sustaining the fund? 

'i. William Carroll, 
" Thomas Clarke Luby, 
*' John J. Breslin, 
" Thomas F. Bourke., 
" James Reynolds, 
"John Devoy. 
" Augustine Ford, Secretary." 



CHAPTER Xr. 

The Irish National Land League formed in Dublin. 
— The Distress increasing. — Irish Members Invoke 
Government Aid. — Davitt arrested.— Lodged in 
Sligo Jail. — "On to Balla." —Committed fob 
Trial. — Pabnell to Chicago. — Davitt' s Lecture in 
England. 

"Pass the word that bands together, — 
Word of mystic conjuration, — 
And as fire consumes the heather, 
So the young hearts of the nation 
Fierce will blaze up, quick and scathing 'gainst the stranger 
and the foe." — Lady Wilde. 

The agitation having now assumed gigantic 
proportions, the need of a central directing power 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 179 

bec-ime apparent ; a thorough cohesion of the 
various political sections that had embraced the 
new platform was indispensable. While the new 
doctrine, so ably and unceasingly preached by 
Davitt and his co-workers, was received and 
adopted by the masses, embracing Home Rulers, 
Ilevolutionists, Kepealers, and Conservatives, it 
was necessary to weld the entire into a concrete 
organization, in order that the agitation might be 
j)roperly sustained, and that its rapidly increasing 
power might be judiciously exercised and directed. 
Davitt, by his unceasing labors and logical elo- 
cpience, with the assistance of Brennan, Killen, 
Loudon, Kettle, Daly, and the others who early 
espoused the land [)rogramme, including the 
patriotic clergy of Ireland, had educated the far- 
mers on the Land Question, and showed them where 
lay their remedy against landlord exactions and 
oppression. He had already won over to the new 
project Mv. Parnell, who, up to this was recog- 
nized merely as the leader of the active section of 
the Home Rulers in Parliament. The time had 
arrived, therefore, for the establishment of an 
executive body with its local branches to repre- 
sent the country on the questions at issue. Dav- 
itt accordingly had a meeting of the leading 
agitators convened at the Imperial Hotel, Dublin, 
on Tuesday, October 21, 1879, to establish the 
Irish National Land Lea2:ue. The meeting was 
harmonious and unauimous in its proceed- 



180 LIFE or MICHAEL DAVITT. 

ings, and adopted the following set of resolu- 
tions, which created The Irish National Land 

League : — 

"That an association be hereby formed to be named 
the ' Irish National Land League.' 

" That the objects of the League are — first, to bring 
out a redaction of rack-rents ; second, to facilitate the 
obtaining of the ownership of the soil b}' the occupiers. 

" That the objects of the League can be best attained 
by promoting organization among the tenant-farmers; 
b}- defending those who may be threatened with evic- 
tion for refusing to pay unjust rents ; by facilitating 
the working of the Bright clauses of the Land Act 
during the winter ; and b}' obtaining such reform in 
the laws relating to land as will enable every tenant 
to become the owner of his holding bj' paying a fair 
rent for a limited number of years. 

"That Mr. Charles S. Parnell, M.P., be elected 
President of this League. 

" That Mr. A. J. Kettle, Mr. Michael Davitt, and 
Mr. TliomasBreuuan be appointed honorary secretaries 
of the League. 

" That Mr. J. G. Biggar, M.P., Mr. W. H. O'Sulli- 
van, M.P., and Mr. Patrick Egan, be appointed treas- 
urers. 

" That the President of this League, Mr. Parnell, be 
requested to proceed to America for the purpose of 
obtaining assistance from our exiled countrj-men, and 
other sj^mpathizers, for the objects for which this ap- 
peal is issued. 

" That none of the funds of this League shall be used 
for the purchase of any landlord's interest in the land, 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 181 

or for furthering the interests of any parliamentary 
candidate." 

The Land League barque, built by Michael 
Davitt and other Eevolutionists, was now fairly 
launched, with Charles Stewart Paruell for captain, 
John Dillon, first officer ; J. G. Biggar, boats- 
wain, and Davitt as pilot, and with a loyal and 
experienced crew, competent to bring her safely 
through all the storms that Jolju Bull and the 
Irish landlords might raise. 

Davitt had now mustered his forces, and there 
was no mistaking the directness of his frequent 
assaults on the stronghold of landlordism. At a 
land meeting held at Aughmore, County Mayo, 
October 2G, he delivered a speech replying to a 
resolution in which were embodied two demands, 
of which he said, — 

" The first was an instant and adequate reduction of 
rents ; and the second was the sweeping away, once and 
forever, of the accursed system of landlordism. He did 
not mince matters about landlordism. He did not 
believe any phase of landlordism should be tolerated 
in Ireland. He was not there to pronounce a laudation 
of good landlords, who might be giving reductions 
now, for they were only giving back the money they 
had robbed the people of; at the same time he could 
discriminate between a rack-renting landlord and a 
just one : but he was there as the uncompromising 
enemy of landlordism in any shape or form ; and until 
the whole system was abolished, and the soil of Ireland 



182 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

given to the people who tilled it, there never would he 
peace or contentment. They were not there to talk 
about fixity of tenure at fair rents, which meant fixity 
of landlordism ; for that they were resolved never should 
be fixed on Irish soil. When forty or fifty meetings 
throughout Ireland had issued a demand for a peasant 
proprietary, were they there, in the barony of Costelloe, 
to talk about fixity of tenure? These meetings were 
not organized with the expectation that the English 
Government would concede all their demands, but with 
the intention of having a great truth circulated, and 
that was, that God intended the land to be for the 
people, and not for the landlords." 

And again, at a meeting in Killala, October 31, 
he said : — 

" They were not there to confiscate, but to reform, 
and the reform they demanded was abolition of land- 
lordism and the substitution in its place of such a 
system of laws as would establish the tillers of the 
soil as the owners of the soil they tilled. If paying 
the hanging gale, which would be due in November, 
entailed hardships upon their wives or cliildren or 
sisters; if it caused them to be pinched during the 
coming winter, and threatened their famil}' with desti- 
tution and starvation in March, — thejMiad no right to 
pay that rent : not onl^- that, they committed crime if 
they made their children suffer in order that the terri- 
torial avarice of the landlords should be satisfied at 
their expense. They must not imagine that they 
would be turned out by the roadside to die as in 1847. 
There was a spirit abroad in Ireland that would not 
stand that a second time in a century." 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 183 

The distress throughout the West was now 
making rapid strides, famine was staring tens of 
thousands of people in ihe face. The Government, 
though frequently appealed to, had afl'ectcd to ig- 
nore the seriousness of the situation : instead of 
devising means of relief, it was sending spies and 
special reporters to the public meetings to collect 
evidence against the agitators ; and preparing to 
make a swoop on the leaders, and endeavor to 
break up the agitation. This policy turned out 
a miserable failure. 

On November 5, a declaration, signed by 
seventy Irish Members of Parliament, was ad- 
dressed to Lord Beaconsfield, the head of the 
Tory Government, then in power. It pointed out 
the serious necessity of taking immediate steps to 
avert the consequences which must result from 
several successive bad harvests, and the wide- 
spread distress already prevailing, and which was 
likely to result in famine. 

The Archbishops aiid Bishops of Ireland, as- 
sembled in Dublin, October 24, the Primate of 
all Ireland in (he chair, and made a similar appeal 
to the British Government, to prevent the people 
from dying of hunger. The appeals proved of 
little avail. Repression of the agitators, who 
were pleading for the lives of the people, was all 
that the Government thought Ireland needed ; and 
they speedily put their project into execution, by 



/ 



184 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

arresting l^.Iichuel Davitt, Jumes Daly, and James 
Bryce Killcn. 

This was the first direct blow dealt by the 
Government at a peaceful and constitutional agi- 
tation ; but it hurt the giver more than those it 
•was intended for. 

On November 19, 1879, Michael Davitt and 
James Bryce Killen were arrested in Dublin, and 
James Daly, editor of the Connaugld Tdegvaiph^ 
■was arrested in Castlcbar, charged with having 
used language in pnblic speeches calculated to in- 
cite a breach of the peace. The three prisoners 
were conveyed to Sligo and lodged in jail there, 
bail being refused. The speeches for which the 
arrests were alleged to have been made were de- 
livered at a monster land meeting held at Gurteen, 
County Sligo, on Sunday, November 2; Rev. 
Roger Breman, P. P., of Gurteen, being in the 
chair. The following are the portions of the 
speech of each on which the law officers of Dub- 
lin Castle depended for convictions. Mr. Davitt, 
in his address, said : — 

"The papers stated that the Right lion. James 
Lowther (the Irish Chief Secretary) was now the guest 
of then- highly consistent and patriotic ( ?) Home Rule 
member, Colonel King-Harman. The papers also 
credited Mr. Lowther with an original discovery, that 
the tenant-farmers of Ireland had £30,000,000 in the 
Irish banks to their credit, and that mone}- formed' a 
good security to the landlords to obtain their rent 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 185 

during the winter. Supposing the discovery was a 
true one, it onl}- represented £16 or £18 to each of tlie 
GOO, 000 farmers of Ireland, and the}'' were not, after 
their 3-ears of toil, going to hand that over to the land- 
lords. They must first attend to the wants of their 
homes and families ; and if after that the}' had a chari- 
table disposition towards meeting the wants of the 
landlords, they might give what the}' could spare. He 
believed that rent for land under any circumstances, 
in prosperous times or in bad times, was an unjust and 
immoral tax upon the industry of the people. Land- 
lordism was an open conspiracy against the well-being, 
prosperity', and happiness of the people, which ought 
to be crushed by those who sutfcred in consequence of 
it. The three thousand Irish landlords received twenty 
millions annually, or half the net earnings of the six 
hundred thousand tenants, without putting hand to 
work. That was not all : they spent nearl}- all that 
money in licentious and voluptuous living in London, 
Paris, and elsewhere, thus draining the country of her 
resources. They were not thei'e to listen to any 
schemes of fixity of tenure at fair rents, with periodical 
valuations. That was fixit}' of landlordism, of poverty, 
and degradation. The}' must have the land owned by 
the tillers. It had been hinted that the Government 
would endeavor to send them out to colonize Zululand. 
He did not believe that ; because England had been 
taught that the Zulus could use the assegai about as 
well as the men of '98 used the pikes, and the amal- 
gamation would be dangerous. He called on the 
people to hold by their land, to pay rent only when 
they had a surplus after everything else, and could 
atford it, and to labor on unceasingly for free land and 



186 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

liberty. Fixitj'^ of tenure was simply fixity of land- 
lordism, fixit}- of poverty and degradation. Abolition 
of landlordism was tlie onl}^ certain remedy. Tlie time 
had come when the manhood of Ireland must spring up 
to its feet, and say it would tolerate this system no 
longer." 

Mr. James Daly, in replying to a resolution 
pledging the meeting not to take a farm from 
which a tenant had been unjustly evicted, said, — 

" That was the 26th meeting of the kind he had had 
the honor of addressing. He had been described as an 
agitator. There were landlords and agents in his own 
county who said the^' would prefer to be hanged, 
drawn, and quartered, rather than jield to the demands 
made at these assemblages. But he had compiled a 
list of twenty such landlords in his countj' who, since 
the first meeting (held at Irlshtown), had made abate- 
ments of 25 per cent, on their rents. Canon John 
McDermott, who is an enthusiastic, a good, and pious 
priest, had stated last Sunda}- in Aughamore that the 
l^eople would not be satisfied with a peasant pro- 
prietar}', and he [the speaker] was delighted to see by 
his words to-day that he had changed that opinion. 
He advised the farmers not to allow themselves to be 
evicted. If the sheriff came to an}' of them, it was 
their dut}^ to assemble in their thousands, and reinstate 
the evicted person the next day. Above all, said he, 
let there be no coward found to take his lands." 

Mr. J. B. Killeu said, — 

" Since the time when the cursed feudal laws were 
introduced by Norman savages the land of Ireland had 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 187 

Leon three times confiscated, but always in favor of the 
aristocrac}'. The}' wanted a fourth confiscation, or 
rather restitution, now in favor of the people. He left 
it to them to say whether that was to be done b}^ the 
pen, the pencil, or the sword. In the North of Ireland, 
where he came from, there was an old legend that 
there were a thousand warriors resting on their swords 
who would spring into existence when the spell o!" their 
enchantment was broken ; and when he saw this large 
meeting before him he felt that the liour had arrived 
when Ireland's libert}- would be consummated. There 
were amongst them reporters from London, who were 
noting every single word said, for the purpose of, by a 
little legal frippery, putting them in dungeons. As 
in other countries, the^^ should obtain their rights by 
using the voice, the pen, — he was going to say the 
sword, — but swords were not used in this country." 

Very Rev. Canon McDcrmott here said Mr. 
Killen shoiild not be advocating the use of physi- 
cal force. 

Mr. Killen denied that he did so ; but he "would 
like to see every one there armed with a rifle, and 
knowing how to use it. The days of namby- 
pamby speaking were over." 

A further incentive for Davitt's arrest was his 
bafliing of the Government spies and reporters by 
making a speech in Irish, which they were unable 
to report, at a meeting held at Corofin, County 
Galway, on Sunday, November 9, at which 
thirteen thousand people were present. In his 
Irish speech Mr. Davitt alluded to the presence 



188 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

of Government reporters, and urged the people 
not to be intimidated, but to organize their strength 
for the overthrow of landlord power. Davitt's 
example was followed by other speakers. Father 
" Tom " McDonough, the patriotic parish priest 
of Corofin, also addressed the people in the 
mother tongue, and said that every one of his 
auditors understood him. One of the tenant- 
farmer speakers, who failed in the English, then 
delivered in Iri.sh a most impassioned speech on 
the wrongs of his class, and a fierce invective 
against persons who encouraged the landlords in 
rack-renting by coveting their neighbors' land. 
Indignation meetings denouncing the arrests were 
held all over Ireland and in England. 

The day after the arrests the following placard 
was extensively posted throughout Ma^o : — 

" To THE People of Mato : Fellow-Countrymen, — 
"The hour of trial has come. Your leaders are ar- 
rested. Davitt and Daly are in prison. You know 
3'our duty. Will you do it? Yes, you will. Balla is 
the place of meeting, and Saturda}^ is the da}^ Come 
in your thousands, and show the Government and the 
world that 3'our rights 3'ou will maintain. To the 
rescue, in the mightiness of 3'our numbers, of the land 
and libert}^ God save the people. Balla, Balla, 
Saturday next." 

On the day announced, November 22d, a most 
remarkable and critical scene in the land move- 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 189 

niont ill Mayo was enacted close to Balla. A 
small farmer, named Anthony Dcnipsey, holding 
nnder Sir Robert Lynch Blosse, uas nnder sen- 
tence of eviction for non-payment of a year's rent. 
The land was taken possession of a week pre- 
vionsly. The man's father was lying on a bed of 
fever, and his children were stricken with measles. 
The sheriff did not, under the circumstances, in- 
sist on completing the eviction at that time, and 
Saturday, November 22, Avas fixed for the final 
expulsion of the family from their home. It was 
the first eviction in Mayo since the beginning of 
the land movement, and the placards summoned 
the people to assemble at the scene of the eviction. 
The summons had hardly been issued, when the 
arrests were made, and the men lodged in prison. 
Thereupon the proclamation, printed above, urged 
the people to make a double protest against 
the eviction and the arrests. It was felt to be 
a crisis. All sorts of rumors began to circu- 
late: that the meeting had been abandoned, — 
that it would be suppressed by force, — that the 
eviction would take place,— that the eviction 
would not take place, — that anything or every- 
thing might happen. The leading London news- 
papers and news agencies despatched special 
correspondents to the spot as to a seat of war. 
A military officer boasted in Castlebar that the 
military would disperse any assemblage with bul- 
lets, and that the leaders would be specially picked 



190 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

off. On the other hand, it began to leak out 
towards the end of the week that certain com- 
munications to the Castle had ended by the deter- 
mination to defer or abandon the eviction ; but to 
the last all remained in a state of painful uncer- 
tainty. On the morning of the day of meeting the 
following placard was extensively circulated : — 

" Parnell and Davitt to the People of Mayo, — 
Men of Mayo : We earncstl}^ counsel such of you as 
intend to be witnesses of the eviction scene, to be 
dignified, order]3', and peaceful, in your conduct. The 
future of our movement depends upon your attitude 
this day. Give no excuse for violence on the part of 
the Government, and our great cause is won." 

Thousands assembled to take part in the meet- 
ing, which passed off quietly, as the sherifi" iigreed 
to give Dempsey more time, so that the eviction 
did not take place. An eye-witness gave the fol- 
lowing description of a remarkable scene observed 
from the place of meeting: "A 'Eath' within 
fifty yards of Dempsey's house on the brow of 
the hill was fixed us the place of meeting. The 
whole road below for more than a mile was cov- 
ered by this huge peasant procession. As the 
head of the column reached the foot of the hill it 
parted, two to either side, and climbed the hill iu 
an immense semicircle extending over the whole 
face of the hill. The two horns of this vast cres- 
cent advanced quickly and simultaneously, as if 



LIFE OF 3IICHAEL DAVITT. 191 

with the intention of surrounding the house, aiul 
with it a kirge body of the police. The police 
immediately prepared to retire; but Mr. Parnell 
exerted himself to stop the movement, and both 
sides of the advancing procession, having halted, 
came quietly together around the speakers. There 
must have been quite eight thousand men in that 
extraordinary array, and their self-possession, 
oi-dcrliness, and enthusiasm were even more 
remarkable than their numbers." 

Messrs. Parnoll, Louden, Dillon, Brennan, and 
others delivered speeches. Mr. Brennan made 
an ardent appeal to the patriotism of the police- 
men, who were within hearing, not to join in the 
inhuman work of the destroyers of their own race, 
against the people. For this he was subsequently 
ari-ested. 

On November 25, Davitt and Killen were 
brought up in the police court for examination. 
Th(^ court was crowded with spectators. Messrs. 
Killen and Davitt appeared perfectly cheerful and 
fearless. Mr. Monroe, Queen's counsel, said if 
ho could prove the utterances of Mr. Davitt's 
alleged words, that the manhood of Ireland should 
spring to its feet and say it would tolerate land- 
lords and landlordism no longer, the magistrates 
would be bound to commit him. Police evidence 
was called to prove their utterance. Davitt, who 
had been occupied all the morning preparing a 
written defence, before commencing to deliver it 



192 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

protested against Mr. Monroe's remark that he 
had already experienced the clemency of the 
Crown, and dechired that he was innocent of the 
charges on which he was convicted in 1870. Mr. 
Monroe, in his remarks, said that Davitt was 
probably the most dangerous of the Irish agitators, 
and specially pointed to his hmgnage comparing 
the Zulu assegai to the Irish pike. Davitt was 
committed for trial ; but, bail being accepted, he 
Avas discharged from custody. The town of Sligo 
was on the verge of a riot that jiight ; the police 
were stoned, and had to charge the people and 
clear the streets. Mr. Davitt was serenaded by 
two bands. 

The attempt of the Government to intimidate 
and put down the agitation by making the arrests 
proved a signal failure. It was condemned by the 
press and the people everywhere, and gave re- 
newed energy and stiength to the agitation. 

The agitation continued to gain strength under 
the management of the Land League. The ten- 
ants in several districts had now taken a positive 
stand, and refused to pay-any more rent unless 
suitable reductions were made. The Government 
had refused to take any adequate measures for 
the relief of the distress, so that the people wero 
compelled to look to outside quarters for aid. 
Parnell sent the following message- to Chicago, 
December 12th : — 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 193 

"Dublin, December 12, 1879. 
"■ To the Editor of the Chicago Daily Neivs, — 
" The arrest of Davitt was prompted bj' the desire 
of the Government to get rid of him as the chief or- 
' gaiiizer of the land agitation, and also in hopes that 
the people would be intimidated by this step of pros- 
ecution, or driven to illegal and violent action. The 
result, instead of arresting the movement, has power- 
fully assisted it. Land clubs are being organized in 
everv part of the kingdom, and subscriptions pour in." 
The Nationalists, Repealers, and Home Rulers are 
united, and have found a common platforin and watch- 
word, " The Land for the People." In its attempt to 
crush the movement, it may resolve upon future illegal 
and unconstitutional action, and the arrest of other 
leaders ; but the landlords are cowed, and the Castle is 
intimidated by the determined action of the people. 
The threatened evictions are abandoned, as the result 
of the success of Balla's anti-eviction ; there is no 
bidding for estates at the sales ; in landed estates, tl'e 
courant tenants are allowed to become owners on eas}' 
terms ; the leading English reformers are in strong 
sympathy with our movement. The French press at 
last is showing its appreciation of the true position of 
aifairs, and send special correspondents to watch the 
progress of the campaign. The cause of the people is 
maintained with redoubled vigor, notwithstanding the 
snow on the ground, and that famine and cold already 
pinch man}'. Great sutfering is anticipated after 
Christmas, and the Government trusts that in this way 
the courage of the masses may be broken. Swarms of 
paid spies are infesting the country ; additional troops 
are despatched to stations in the South and West, and 



194 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

large levies of constabulary recruits are just ordered ; 
all indicating the determination of tlie Government to 
take advantage of the sufferings of the people, and 
drive them to deeds of violence. No relief works 
have yet been undertaken, nor is there any prospect of 
State assistance ; but orders have been issued to pre- 
pare additional workhouse accommodations. The atti- 
tude of our people up to the present time is magnificent : 
they are self-restrained and reliant, and resolved not 
to be betrayed into an^- precipitate or illegal action. 

"An important meeting of the executive committee 
of the National Land League was held to-day, when, 
among other important business, it was decided that I 
should leave for New York with John Dillon, son of 
the late John B. Dillon, as soon as possible. 

(Signed) " Charles Stewart Parnell." 

Great meetings were now organized throngh- 
cnit England to protest against the arbitrary 
action of the Government, and aid the Irish Land 
League movement. On November 30th, one 
hundred thousand people assembled in Hyde 
Park, London, to sympathize with the agitation 
in Ireland. Messrs. Parnell, Davitt, and Finigan 
delivered addresses at meetings in various English 
towns. 

On Sunday, November 30th, IMr. Davitt ad- 
dressed a crowded meeting of the Irishmen of the 
Tyneside, in the Music Ilall, Gateshead. A tre- 
mendous crowd assembled in front of the Central 
Station, Newcastle, and, preceded by a l)anner 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 195 

and ])and, accompanied Mr. Davitt in procession 
across the Tyne to the meethig-[)hice in Gateshead. 
The streets of the latter place were lined with 
s[)ectators, and the lai-ge ^Miisie Hall was crowded 
to the doors. JNIr. Councillor McAiiulty occupied 
the chair. 

In his address Mr. Davitt said, — 

" The definition of rent given by John Stuart Mill 
was the surplus profit left to the tenaut-farmer after 
he had paid the wages of his laborers and provided fo» 
his own and his children's wants. Now, in Ireland 
this year there was not onlj' no surplus profit, but there 
was not a sufflciencj' to keep the people alive. There- 
fore, according to John Stuart Mill's definition of rent, 
there was no rent in the country, and therefore there 
was no rent to pay. But, although he had adduced 
that argument on many platforms, he had not told the 
people to act up to its logical conclusion, and to pay 
no rent, lie had told them to see to their own and 
their children's wants, and then to go to the landlord 
and offer him what the}- had left ; and sureh', under 
the circumstances, no people could be asked to do 
more. Regarding this solemn contract that the}- heard 
so much about between the tenant-farmer and his land- 
lord, he held that a compulsory contract was not as 
binding as if it was a voluntary one ; and he said that 
the conti'act between landlords and tenants in Ireland 
was compulsor}-, — and wh}'? Ireland was essentially 
an agricultural countr}'. They had no factories ; they 
had no industries, such as were in England ; the\- had 
no Mauchesters, Liverpools, Tj-nesides, or Gatesheads. 



196 LIFE OF IMICHAEL DAVITT. 

If the tenant-farmer in England found he had to pay 
what he considered was a rack-rent, he coukl throw up 
his farm and go into the next manufacturing town and 
get employment for himself and liis children. But 
in Ireland he could not do that : if he gave up his 
farm, he had onl}^ one of two courses to take, — either to 
walk into the workhouse, or to leave Ireland forever 
and seek his bread iu exile. Hence when a landlord 
went to a tenant and said he would raise his rent from 
£10 to £12, or from £12 to £15 a 3'ear, what alternative 
had he ? Would they ask him to go to the workhouse, 
would they ask him to take his family to England or 
to America^ while he had that love for his fatherland 
which characterized all the Irish people, and which 
he hoped would always characterize them? Certainly 
not. And that was the compulsion, and a contract 
entered into under those circumstances was not a fair 
contract, was not a just contract ; and was not as 
binding as a contract would be here in England, where 
the tenant had the alternative either of paying his 
rent, or throwing up his farm and seeking employ- 
ment in his own countr}-, which employment the 
Irishman could not find in Ireland. 

" Having said so much upon this question of rent, 
he came to another demand that the}^ had made in 
Ireland, and that demand was that the four or live 
millions of acres of waste land to be found in Ireland 
should be reclaimed. Now, surely if there was an}'- 
thing wicked in his having asked for assistance to 
prevent the people from starvation, there was nothing 
malicious, to quote the words of the warrant for his 
arrest, in asking that the waste land of Ireland should 
be reclaimed, in order to find employment for the 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 197 

people, and in order to benefit the country. Surely 
there was nothing revolutionary in that. There was 
nothing to alarm even the Government of England, or 
to frighten the landlords with the ghost of Communism 
or Socialism. Travelling throughout Ireland, they 
would see in all parts, in every county, splendid land 
running to waste ; and the explanation they would get 
from the car-driver, or from those with whom they 
came in contact, was that those lands had been quitted 
in the famine j^ears. The people were driven from 
them, and sent to the workhouse to die, and some 
across to England. Since then this land had lain 
fallow. Well, when that land was created by Almighty 
God, it was not intended to lie fallow, it was not 
intended to run waste : it was intepded to produce 
food to support the people whom God intended to be 
the inhabitants of Ireland ; and if they now asked that 
that land should be put to the use for which it was 
created, — namely, that it should be reclaimed in order 
to give employment to willing people, to keep capital 
in the country, and to increase the value of cereal 
l)roduce, — surely there was nothing wicked or revolu- 
tionary in that. That was one of the demands that 
they had made from those 'violent and inflammatory' 
platforms in Ireland during the last twelve months. 

" The}' had asked that some of the church surplus 
should be employed in reclaiming this waste land. 

" Landlordism was a system which was responsible 
for the deaths, he might almost say to the number of 
two millions of their people, during the famine 3'ears of 
1847-48 ; and when he saw the hovels their people 
were compelled to live in now on account of that sj'stem, 
— when he saw the poverty and degradation which 



198 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

prevailed on a land made fruitful by the bount}' of 
God, — it was impossible for him to restrain his indig- 
nation. This sj'stem was responsible for the miser}' of 
the Irish people ; and when he saw their forced exile to 
England, often to spend a life of toil and miser}', and 
yet was asked to speak of it in buttered phrases, he 
answered ' No.' He held that he had a double duty to 
perform in denouncing it ; and so long as he had brain 
to plan, hand to dare, or heart to feel for Ireland, so 
long would he stand an uncompromising enemy to 
landlordism. 

" He had taken part in this agitation from a sense 
of dut}'. He had felt that a crisis was coming to his 
country, and that it was necessarj- to rouse the people 
of Ireland in order that they should not be guilty of 
the suicidal act, the guilt}' act, of lying down to die 
as their kindred did in '48. That was a blot upon 
their country. Although he could lay the blame on alien 
misgovernment, still it did not redound to the credit 
of the people of 1847-48 that they lay down on the road- 
side and died. Mr. Parnell and others were deter- 
mined that such a state of things would not be allowed 
to come without the Government being forewarned of 
it. In conclusion, he asked the support of the Irishmen 
of Tyneside in behalf of the Irish National Land League, 
of which Mr. Parnell was the head. This league made 
•war against no political party in Ireland ; it was a 
neutral platform, upon which the Nationalist, Home 
Ruler, Repealer, and Non-participant could stand to- 
gether, — upon which every Irishman worthy of the 
name could join without compromising his particular 
principles on these heads ; and its object was to root 
the people on the soil, and make them prosperous, con-' 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 199 

tented, and happ}'. Surel}' there was no man who 
would stand on a quibble of principle, and refuse to 
co-operate in this great labor. lie was a Nationalist, 
and not a Home Ruler ; but still on this platform he rec- 
ognized no difference, for he believed that Home Ruler 
and Repealer were anxious to have their people com- 
fortable and happy. In this league thej' sunk political 
differences, and grasped hands in order to rescue a 
starving people, and to raise Ireland from that social 
degradation in which landlordism had sunk it." 

After speaking at some of the great English 
meetings, Mr. Parnell, accompanied by Mr. Dil- 
lon, sailed for America, where they arrived by the 
steamer IScythia, on Friday, January 2. Recep- 
tions for the Land Lesigue delegates had meaii- 
■uhile been arranged in many of the American 
cities. 



200 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Paenell and Dillon in New Yoek. — Great Meeting 
IN Madison Squake Garden. — Parnell addresses 
Congress, — The Famine in Ireland. — How the 
Landlords acted. — The Kelief Bill. — Land Meet- 
ing ON THE Spot where Davitt was EOiiN. 



" A million a decade! "What does it mean? 
A nation dying of inner decay; 
A churchyard's silence where life has been; 
The base of the pyramid crumbling away; 
A drift of men gone over the sea, 
A drift of the dead where men should be." 

— Speranza. 
% 

The critical condition of affairs in Ireland, 
coupled with the recent appeals for aid m;ide to 
the Irish race in America, produced great sympa- 
thy in favor of the agitation, and a desire on tb.e 
part of Irish-Americans to render all the aid pos- 
sible, both for the I people who were on the veigo 
of starvation, and for the prosecution of the agi- 
tation. Meetings were held in various cities 
throughout the States to devise the best m(>ans 
of meeting the emergency. From many of those 
meetings delegates were sent to New York with 
offers of aid, and invitations to Messrs. Parnell 
and Dillon, who had just arrived, to visit the sev- 
eral towns represented and address the people. 

The first great meeting at which the Land 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. . 201 

Lengue delegates — Messrs. Parnell and Dillon — 
spoke, was held in Madison Square Garden, New 
York, on Sunday evening, Januaiy 4th, 1880, 
nine thousand persons being present. The re- 
ception given the delegates by the vast multitude 
was intensely enthusiastic. Mrs. Parnell and her 
three daughters were present. Judge Alker, 
Chairman of the Reception Committee, intro- 
duced the Hon.. Henry E. Gildersleeve — the 
rifleman — as chairman of the meeting, who in- 
troduced jNIr. Parnell. After Messrs. Parnell 
and Dillon had delivered speeches, the following 
resolutions were adopted : — 

''Resolved,— I. That Mr. Charles Stewart Parnell 
and Mr. John Dillon are deserving of our earnest 
gratitude and most unqualified confidence ; that the 
sacrifices the}' have made and the perils they have en- 
countered in coming to this prosperous land to plead 
the cause of a suffering nation are entitled to a 
generous and practical recognition and response ; and 
that the promises made by us in our welcoming ad- 
dress it should be our pride as well as our duty to 
redeem. 

" 2. That we give our suffering brothers in Ireland our 
heart-whole sympathies in these the days of their deep 
distress ; and, while giving sj'mpatb}', we would counsel 
hope for the better da^' which, in God's good time, will 
assuredly come. 

"3. That while the relief of the immediate suffering 
has a claim upon onr immediate action, we cannot over- 
look the fact that the system which produces this suf- 



202 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

fering needs change ; that mone}' for the purchase of 
food, fuel, and raiment for the afflicted poor is needed 
at once, and that, beyond and besides this primar}- call, 
funds are needed to strengthen the hands of' the Irish 
Land Leagur; in their struggle against landlord nion- 
opolj- ; and that, therefore, we suggest to the generous 
public that, while remembering the pressing claims 
now presented for relief, there is an obligation to aid 
in the prevention of the recurrence of such claims ; 
and this latter can only be effected by that readjust- 
ment of the land tenure of Ireland contemplated by the 
Irish Land League. 

" 4. That subscription lists be at once opened, a 
finance committee, secretaries, and treasurers appoint- 
ed, and that a formal and earnest appeal be made to 
aid in the grand achievement of giving an ancient 
people a living in their own land ; realizing the idea 
given utterance to by Mr. Parnell,on arrival, of giving 
Ireland a place among the nations of the earth, — in 
other words, ' Ireland for the Irish and the Irish for 
Ireland.'" 

The visiting delegates were now fairly before 
the American people. They travelled continu- 
ously, and spoke at meetings all over the United 
States during January, February, and March. 
Mr. Parnell said, before his departure, they had 
travelled 10,000 miles and spoken in 62 cities. 
They were everywhere accorded enthusiastic re- 
ceptions by the American people, as well as by 
the Irish-Americans. The object of their visit 
proved eminently successful, both as regards sym- 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 203 

pathy and nuiterial aid, $200,000 having been 
sul)scnl)et1, according to Mr. Parnell's own words. 
On Monday, the 2d of Febrnary, by vote of 
Congress, Mr. Parnell addressed the House on 
the state of Ireland. The action of Congress on 
the matter was as follows ; On the 29th January, 
Mr. Young, of Ohio, submitted the following 
resolution, which was read, considered, and. 
agreed to : — 

" Resolved by the House of Representatives^ That the 
invitation extended to this bod}^ to hear the address of 
Hon. Mr. Parnell, a member of Parliament, to be de- 
livered in this city on the evening of February 2, on 
the distressed condition of Ireland, be accepted." 

Mr. Cox, of New York, proposed the following 
resolution, to follow that of Mr. Young : — 

" In response to the invitation just presented and 
accepted, requesting the House to agree to take part 
in the ceremonies to be observed in the reception of 
Mr. Charles Stewart Parnell, a representative of the 
Irish people, for the delivery of an address on Irish 
affairs, and because of the great interest which the 
people of the United States take in the condition of 
Ireland, with which this cmmtry is so closel}' allied by 
many historic and kindred ties : Therefore, — 

" Be it resolved, That the Hall of this House be 
granted for the above purpose, on the 2d day of February 
next, and that the House meet on that day and time to 
take part in the ceremonies." 



204 LIFE or MICHAEL DAVITT. 

On the evening of the day named the House 
was packed with Congressmen, Senators, hidies, 
and visitors. At 7.30 o'clock, Speaker Randall 
entered the Hall, accompanied by Parnell. The 
Speaker read the resolution under which the ses- 
sion of the evening was held. He then said, that, 
in conformity with that resolution, he had the 
honor and pleasure to introduce Charles Stewart 
Parnell, M. P., who had come among them to 
speak of the distress of his country. 

Mr. Parnell was received with applause from 
the floor and galleries. He commenced his speech 
by thanking the House for the honor conferred 
upon him, and entered at once upon an expla- 
nation of the wrongs of the Irish people and the 
causes o£ it, which he ascribed to the system of 
land tenure. Every allusion that was made to 
the help that America was giving to Ireland was 
received with demonstrations of approval. In 
the course of his speech, Mr. Parnell said it woidd 
be a proud boast for America if it should aid in 
reformino; the land tenure of Ireland and solvinof 
the question without the shedding of one drop of 
blood, as it could do. He alluded to the f;ict 
that he had American blood in his veins, and this 
elicited a perfect storm of applause. He thanked 
Americans for the generosity of their contribu- 
tions, and hoped this would be the last Irish 
famine they would have to aid. He concluded his 
Bpeech at 8.22 o'clock, and the House immediately 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 205 

adjourned. At the close of the meethig Mr. Par- 
nell held a levee in the hall, aud was introduced 
to members and others by Speaker Randall. 

Parnell's speech was cabled to London by the 
British minister at Washington, as soon as it was 
delivered : it was a bitter pill for John Bull to 
swallow ; but he had to swallow it, all the same. 

While Messrs. Parnell and Dillon were pursu- 
ing their patriotic mission in the United States, 
most appalling accounts of the dreadful suffering 
caused by the famine in Ireland were being pub- 
lished daily in the press. In the beginning of 
January, 1880, Mr. Davitt visited Conneraara to 
see for himself the state of affairs in that wild 
region. On his return to Dublin he reported at , 
a meeting of the Irish National Land League, ' 
January 13, that both priests and people with 
whom he had conversed expressed the belief that 
private charity would be insufl5cient to cope with 
the distress between March and June, and that 
Government aid would alone prevent starvation. 
The people along the sea-coast from Spiddal to 
Clifden were, he said, eating the potatoes that 
should be kept for seed. He suggested that re- 
lief committees should not overlook the necessity 
of providing seed for districts where people had 
been compelled to use as food what should be re- 
served for the coming seed-time. No out-door 
relief was given by unions along the Connemara 
sea-coast. 



206 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

A few of the piirticular cases of distress re- 
ported in January and February will give a fair 
idea of what the general suflering must have been 
in those months. On January 14, sixty able- 
bodied men with their families were admitted to 
the Killarney workhouse. On the same day, a 
woman with three children, one of whom was 
dead in her arms from hunger and exposure, 
applied for admission; she had walked from 
Cahirciveen, forty miles, seeking food for her 
children. 

On January 23, a letter from Clifden, County 
Galway, was published in Dublin, which said, — 

" Last evening Clifden presented an appalling pic- 
ture. Crowds of ragged, famished men and women 
thronged around the doors of the meal-shops, clamor- 
ing for food. Many had waited up all through the 
night in the bitter frost, besieging the houses of the 
relief committee. Several thousands flocked into 
town during the da}', demanding relief. Several men 
seized members of the committee, crying, ' We are 
starving ; we must have food !' . The police had to 
be called in to clear the meal-shops of the mob. They 
gathered threateningly around the house where the 
relief committee were sitting. Knots of men and 
women, who could not be reached that day by the relief 
committee remained in the street until midnight, al- 
though the air was intensely cold. Fever has broken 
out at Carna ; four families are stricken down in one 
village." 



LIFE OF SIICHAEL DAVITT. 207 

On February 13, a poor woman , numcclMary Hur- 
loy, whose sense of shame put begghigand the work- 
house out of the question, died of absolute Avant in 
Fermoy, County Cork. Many others in the same 
town were reported to be approaching the last stage 
of misery. On Februar}'^ 21, a case of insanity, 
resulting from destitution, was reported from 
Stralofiath, near Letterkenny, County Donegal. 
A man named Denis Martin lived with his sister 
and a l)rother's child on a high mountain farm of 
twenty-six acres, the rent of which was £4 3s. 
8d., — an increase, it was stated, of 50 per cent. 
over the rent paid some years ago. Three months 
previously his cows were seized for arrears of 
rent, and his horse, by which he was able to eke 
out a living by carting turf to Letterkenny, died. 
Their extreme poverty was concealed until the 
day named, when Martin's sister made an attempt 
on the life of the child, Avhose screams attracted 
the neighbors, and it was discovered tiiat they 
had had no food for four days. The sister was 
put into an asjdum, and Martin, who had likewise 
exhibited symptoms -of lunacy, was taken care of 
by his brother, who was also in distress. 

At a meeting of the Mansion House Committee 
on January 31, Lord Mayor Gray referred to the 
reports that three inquests had been held in tlie 
neighborhood of Parsonstown, wherein verdicts 
•were rendered of death from destitution. 

The Registrar General for Ireland stated, at a 



208 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

meeting of the Marlborough Relief Committee, 
that according to the best information in his pos- 
session two-thirds of the potato crop, representing 
five and three-quarter million of pounds ster- 
ling, failed in 1879. This, coupled with the bad 
harvests the two previous years, brought the 
people to the verge of the famine-graves from 
which the}' were rescued by the Land League ; 
for, had it not been for the timely and energetic 
action of that body, thousands of trenches would 
have been filled with famine-corpses, as in 
1846-47. 

The landlords were by no means idle spectators 
of \vhat wns transpiring around them. They 
thought it high time to go for their "pound of 
flesh," while a little yet remained on the bones of 
their gaunt victims. Ejectments and processes 
were being showered in on the famine districts, so 
that the price of the last loaf which was to save 
the life of a hungry child might be captured before 
it was devoured. The people resisted the writs 
which would deprive them of their last hope, and 
police bayonets were frequently reddened in the 
blood of the starving peasants. Here are a few 
instances worthy of being remembered and placed 
to the debit side of the landlord account. 

In the beginning of January a process-server, 
named Langley, surrounded with police, went to 
serve ejectments at Knockrickard, six miles from 
Claremorris, County Mayo ; their way was barred 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 209 

by about five hundred women and girls, who pre- 
cipitated themselves on the constabulary to get 
at Langley and take the writs from him. The 
report of the affair says : " A scene of terrible 
confusion and dread ensued. The officers drew 
their swords and rushed among the women, most 
of whom were bareheaded and barefooted. One 
young woman had her scalp cut by a sword ; 
another had a bayonet thrust in her arm ; several 
were knocked down, trampled on, and had their 
dresses torn." 

Again, in the same month, the Irish corre- 
spondent of the New York Herald, who at that 
time would not err in favor of the peasantry, 
Avriting to his paper in reference to a similar 
incident, said, — 

" The actual scene of this business was the village 
of Corraroe, which is on the coast, about twenty miles 
from the town of Galway. The local police antici- 
pating a popular movement, occupied the house before 
the arrival of the crowd, and thus frustrated their inten- 
tions. Messengers were dispatched to the station at 
Spiddal, five miles distant, asking for re-enforcements. 
These arrived during the evening, and the police re- 
mained on the premises all night. Meanwhile the 
telegraph wires had been in operation, and the next 
morning an additional detachment of fifty constables 
ai'rived on the scene. In the midst of this little army, 
Fen ton, the process-server, issued from the house 
to execute his legal mission. The first house visited 
was that of William Faherty. Women surrounded the 



210 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

door, and, as Fenton advanced to effect service, tbey 
clutched th^ process and tore it to shreds. The police 
then charged all round with their sword bayonets, 
wounding several severely. The women were bayon- 
eted right and left ; and one of them, Mrs. Conneally, 
sustained such injuries that the last rites of the Church 
had to be administered to her by the Rev. P. J. Newell, 
the Catholic priest of the place, who Was an eye-wit- 
ness of the scene. 

" The police then proceeded to the cabin of a man 
named Conneally, about three hundred yards distant. 
The}' smashed open the door, which was closed, and 
service was effected. James Mackle's house was next 
visited. The women again surrounded the door, and 
endeavored to wrest the process from Fenton. The 
police charged a second time indiscriminately, knocked 
some of the people down, and, it is stated, baj'onetcd 
one man while on the ground, unmercifully. Up to 
this the men had not interfered beyond crowding 
round, and no missiles were thrown at the constabulary ; 
but now sticks and stones were freely used, and a ter- 
rible melee ensued. The police became much excited, 
and at last fired some shots over the heads of their 
assailants. Then the process-server attempted to deliver 
the document. The women, as before, snatched it out 
of his hand and destroyed it. Sub-Inspector Gibbons 
rushed into the house, and, as he advanced to the 
hearth, Mrs. Mackle lifted a blazing turf, and smashed 
it on his neck. Smarting from the burning, the officer 
rushed back to the door, and in the struggle his sword 
was knocked out of his hand. The commanding offi- 
cer considei'ed that the situation was now too critical 
to act without the presence of a magistrate, whose 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 211 

orders would relieve the constables of the legal respon- 
sibilitj' of a conflict with the peasantry. Accordingly 
the whole force was withdrawn, and concentrated at 
the police barrack in the village, where the process- 
server remained for protection." 

On January 17, the police, escorting a party 
of process-servers, at Kilmina, Couuty of Mayo, 
"were severely maltreated, and obliged to retreat, 
though they had their rifles loaded and bayonets 
fixed. Several of the police were cut about the 
head and face. The process-servers had their 
clothing torn, aud the processes were captured 
by the mob. 

Such was the state of Ireland when the Irish 
National Land League, through its delegates, was 
appealing to the American people to save the lives 
of the Irish peasantry. 

On January 23, Messrs. Davitt, Brennan, Daly, 
and Killen were served with writs calling on them, 
in answer to their recognizances, to appear before 
the Court of Queen's Bench, failing in which they 
were to be again arrested. When they appeared 
in court, further time to plead was granted. The 
Government, however, saw they had bungled in 
making the arrests, and allowed the case to drop. 

At a meeting of the Irish National Land League 
on Junuary 26, it was resolved "that Mr. Michael 
Davitt should be deputed to wait upon the editors 
of the French aud other continental newspapers, 



212 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

to enlist their support in efforts for the relief of 
distress in Ireland." Accordingly Mr. Davitt, 
accompanied by Mr. Killen, shortly afterwards vis- 
ited France and Bels^ium to collect information re- 
garding the land system in those countries, and 
to carry out the mission delegated to them. 

Parliament was opened on February 5, and a 
relief bill was introduced shortly afterwards, whicti 
disqualiiied from voting those who received aid 
through its provisions, and which was afterwards 
so tied up with red tape that it proved of little 
value. The whole country might have starved 
while the Board of Works were getting ready to 
administer it. 

Meanwhile the agitation was continued with 
unabated energy. On February 1, 1880, over 
15,000 people assembled on the spot where Mr. 
Michael Davitt was born. The platform was 
erected over the very ruins of the old homestead 
from which the family had been evicted. It was 
at this meeting Mr. Davitt delivered the speech, 
a portion of which we quoted in our second chap- 
ter. His visrorous denunciation of landlordism 
was as follows : — 

" The public mind of Ireland is at present occupied 
with two absorbing questions, each of which has suc- 
ceeded in obtaining prominence ; namely, through the 
instrumentality of this agitation. The distress is, un- 
fortunately, the agony cry of the hour, and mustr, 
therefore, be considered by all Irish^meu as constiLut- 



LIFE OF MIOUAEL, DAVITT. 213 

ing the one supreme object round which the sympathy 
and assistance of all parties must rail}' in vigorous 
eflforts to raise our people from starvation, and to 
minimize the miseries which dog the footsteps of fam- 
ine. While every nerve must be strained to stave off, 
if possible, the horrible fate which befell our famine- 
slaughtered kindred in 1847 and 1848, the attention of 
our people must not for a moment be withdrawn from 
the primary cause of these periodical calamities, nor 
their exertions be relaxed in this great social struggle 
for the overthrow of the odious system responsible for 
them. 

" Let landlordism be removed from our country, and 
labor be allowed the wealth which it creates, in- 
stead of being given to legalized idlers, and no more 
famine will darken our land or hold Ireland up to the 
gaze of the civilized world as a nation of paupers. 
England deprives us annually of some seven millions 
of money for Imperial taxation, and she allows an in- 
famous land system to rob our country of fifteen or 
twenty millions more each year to support some nine 
or twelve thousand lazy landlords ; and then, when 
famine extends its destroying wings over the land, and 
the dread spectre of Death stands sentinel at our thresh- 
olds, an appeal to English charity — a begging-box 
outside the London Mansion House — is paraded be- 
fore the world, and expected to atone for every wrong 
inflicted upon Ireland by a heartless and hated Govern- 
ment, and to blot out the records of the most monstrous 
land code that ever cursed a country or robbed human- 
ity of its birthright. It is humiliating to the last 
degree that a few thousand laud-sharks should have so 
long and so successfully trod upon the necks of mil- 



214 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

lions of Irishmen, and defraiided them of the fruits of 
their land, while at the same time robbing, insulting, 
and dragooning our country with an inhumanity unsur- 
passed by the titled plunderers of the Middle Ages. 
An average landlord may be likened to a social vul- 
ture hovering over the heads of the people, and swoop- 
ing down upon the earnings and the food which that 
industry produces, whenever his appetite or his avarice 
prompts him. The tenantrj' in the past have stood by 
like a flock of frightened sheep, timid and terrified, un- 
able to prevent this human bird of pre}' from devouring 
their own and their children's substance. While rack- 
rents were paid by the farmer, his family must live in 
semi-starvation, in wretched hovels, amid squalor and 
privations,- barbed by the thought that the money 
earned by labor and sweat from day to day was being 
spent by his own and his children's deadly enemy, in 
another land, in voluptuous ease and sensual gratifica- 
tion. If the rack-rent was not paid, and this black 
mail levied upon labor in the shape of rent was not 
forthcoming, to be squandered by one who never earned 
a penny of it, out upon the roadside the earners would 
be cast, to take their choice of death bj- exposure, 
workhouse degradation, or banishment from home and 
Ireland for ever." 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 215 



CHAPTER Xm. 

The National Lanb League started in America. — 
Davitt again visits the United States.— First 
Land League Convention in New York. — America's 
Aid during the Famine.— The Compensation fob 
Disturbance Bill rejected.— Evictions.— Davitt in 
San Francisco.— The Ladies' Land League begun.— 
Davitt leaves for Ireland.— Boycotting Boycott. 
— The State Trials.— The Coercion Act in Force. 



" Beautiful Ireland! who will preach to thee? 
Souls are waiting for lips to vow; 
And outstretched hands, that fain would reach thee, 
Yearn to help, if they knew but how, 
To lift the thorn-wreath off thy brow." 

— Speeanza. 



Before his return to Ireland, Mr. Parnell an- 
nounced that it was his intention to call a conven- 
tion in Boston for the purpose of effecting a 
permanent organization of Irish-Americans^ and, 
in anticipation of that event, meetings were held 
in a number of cities, so that delegates might be 
chosen. This' project was frustrated by the early 
recall to Ireland of Mr. Parnell, in consequence 
of the dissolution of Parliament. He sailed from 
New York on the Baltic, on Thursday, March 11. 
New York had previous to this taken the initiative 
to form an orgauization in connection with the 
Irish National Land League. On Sunday, March 



216 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

7, two important meetings were held in that city, 
— one at the Astor House, the other at Military 
Hall, 193 Bowery. 

The Astor House meeting was composed princi- 
pally of gentlemen who had taken an active part 
in the reception of Mr. Parnell ; and among them 
were prominent Nationalists, members of the 
Ancient Order of Hibernians, the St. Patrick's 
Mutual Alliance, the 'Longshoremen's Union, the 
Temperance Societies, and the Catholic Young 
Men's Society. Mr. John C. Heunessy presided, 
and Mr. Wm. B. Clarke acted as Secretary. 
Among those present were Walter M. O'Dwyer, 
J. J. W. O'Donoghue, Dr. Wallace, Dr. Charles 
S. Smith, Stephen J. Meany, T. R. Bannermun, 
Dennis A. Spellissy, John J. Breslin, Charles A. 
O'Kourke, John Henry McCarthy, James J. 
Treacy, John Devoy, and Roger Burke. After 
a very harmonious discussion, a resolution was 
passed forming the meeting into the "Irish Na- 
tional Land League and Relief Association of New 
York." Sixteen sub-committees, appointed at a 
meeting the previous Sunday, reported having suc- 
ceeded in establishing a nucleus of an organization 
in their respective wards, and gave encouraging 
assurances of the good-will manifested towards 
the movement. A committee consisting of John 
Devoy, Thomas R. Bannerman, Dr. C. J. Smith, 
John J. Breslin, Walter M. O'Dwyer, Wm. 
Connolly, and John C. Heunessy, was appointed 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 217 

to (Imw up a constitution and bj'-laws, and report 
at the next meeting, and these, with Mr. O'Dwyer 
as chairman, Drs. Donlin, WaUace, and McGuire, 
and Colonel Michael Kirwin added, were ap- 
pointed as a temporary Executive Committee. 

At the Military Hall meeting, five delegates 
each from twenty Irish National organizations 
were present. Mr. Cornelius Roche was elected 
chairman. After some discussion, it was unani- 
mously resolved to organize an association to aid 
the Irish National Land League, to be called the 
Irish National Land League of New York. A 
committee to draw up an address to the Irish peo- 
ple of New York and a constitution and by-laws 
was appointed. 

In the evening an informal conference took 
place between some of the officers elected at each 
of those meetings, and arrangements were made 
for a formal conference at the Astor House, with 
a view to having a joint meeting on the following 
Sunday, merging the two bodies, and uniting their 
efibrts to thoroughly organize New York City. 

On the day of Mr. Parnell's departure for Ire- 
land, in response to an invitation issued by him to 
the representatives of various Irish societies and 
prominent Irishmen, a conference was held in the 
New York Hotel. There were twenty-eight Irish 
organizations represented ; after some discussion, 
it was decided to form a National Irish Land 
League in the United States, to be auxiliary to the 



218 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

Irish National Land League in Dublin. Mr. 
Parnell, in addressing the conference, said that 
in his absence Mr. Dillon would fill his place. He 
asked that the conference sustain him, and spread 
the Land League organization all over the con- 
tinent. The meeting adopted the following 
resolutions: — 

" 1. That in the opinion of this meeting it is 
expedient that an auxiliary organization of the Irish 
Land League be formed in America, in harmony with 
the organization in Ireland, and to assist its objects. 

" 2. That the Irish Land League in America be 
organized by States, Territories (and District of 
Columbia), with an Executive Council for each, the 
members of which are to be elected by the several local 
branches in the State ; each being entitled to a repre- 
sentation in the council, in proportion to membership. 
The President, Secretary, and Treasurer shall reside 
in the same city. 

"3. That there shall be a Central Council in the Union, 
consisting of representatives from the several State 
Councils, through whom official communications and 
funds may be forwarded to the Dublin Executive of 
the Irish National Laud League. The Secretar}-, 
Treasurer, and President to reside in the same city. 

" 4. That a convention of local associations to elect 
their State Council for the transaction of business 
meet within their State at least once a 3'ear. 

" 5. That a convention of representatives of State 
Councils be held 3'early to elect the Central Council in 
the same wa}'. 

" 6. That a Committee on Rules be hereby appointed 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 219 

to dra\y up suggestions for the guidance of tlie 
councils and tlie local associations, such rules being 
held to be the rules of the councils and associations, 
unless objected to by a majority of the branches and 
councils after the lapse of one month after the notifi- 
cation thereof. 

" 7. That an Executive Committee of this meeting, 
consisting of one from each organization represented, 
be appointed to select said committee." 

JNIr. Parnell deputed to the Committee itself the 
work of appointing the Committee on Rules ; and 
he suggested the adoption of the following resolu- 
tion as defining said duty : — 

" Resolved, — That a committee be appointed, with 
power to add to its number gentlemen from all parts 
of the Union, to carry out the resolution adopted at 
the full meeting ; this committee to have power to 
consult with leading gentlemen in various parts of the 
country, and to extend and promote the organization." 

In accordance with the last resolution, the com- 
mittee appointed issued the following circular, on 
March 30, to one hundred and eight gentlemen in 
all parts of the United States, whose names had 
been approved of for a provisional Central Coun- 
cil. Mr. Parnell had himself selected many of 
the names before his departure : — 

^'■Dear Sir, — A Conference of representatives of Irish 
societies, and gentlemen frieodly to the Irish Land 
movement, was held, oh Mr. Paruell's invitation, at the 



220 LIFE OF MICHAEL DA V ITT. 

New York Hotel in this cit}-, on Thursda}-, the 11th 
March, inst., for the purpose of taking counsel as to 
the best means of furthering the cause of land re- 
form in Ireland. After a thorough discussion of the 
subject, it was decided that an Irish Land League 
should be formed in the United States, for the purpose 
of rendering moral and financial aid to the Irish Na- 
tional Land League of Ireland. The resolutions here- 
with enclosed, and the statements of the objects of the 
Irish Land League, will explain the action already 
taken. 

" Pending the complete organization of the American 
branch of the League, and the election of a repre- 
sentative Central Council, the Conference decided that 
the supervision and direction of the movement should 
be intrusted to a Provisional Central Council, to be 
appointed bj' Mr. Parnell, aided in his choice by the 
advice of a committee appointed by the Conference. 
On account of Mr. Parnell's hasty departure for Ire- 
land, he found it necessary to depute the selection of 
this Provisional Central Council to the committee 
appointed b}' the Conference. That committee held 
several meetings, and at its final gathering at Mott 
Memorial Hall, in New York, on Sunday the 21st of 
March, the names of the following gentlemen, many 
of whom were suggested b}' Mr. Parnell, were unani- 
mously selected as the Provisional Central Council of the 
Irish Land League of the United States. [Here occur 
the names selected.] 

" After the appointment of a sub-committee of seven 
for the purpose of notifying the gentlemen elected, and 
arranging for a meeting of the Provisional Central 
Council, the committee adjourned sine die. 



LIFE OF mCHAEL DAVITT. 221 

" We, the undersigned members of the sub-committee, 
have, therefore, the honor to inform j^ou that you have 
been dul}' elected a member of the Provisional Central 
Council of the Irish Land League of America, and to 
request the favor, at 3'our earliest convenience, of a 
reply, stating your acceptance or declination of the 
position, and the time and the place which you would 
find most convenient for a meeting of the Council. 
We enclose blank for that purpose. Very respectfully, 

" T. J. Kearney, M. D., Chairman. 

" David T. Lynch, Secretary. 

" Thomas J. Byrne, Treasurer. 

"James W. O'Brien. 

" Stephen J. Meant. 

" John Devot. 

"J. C. McGuiRE. 

" Committee.'* 

The other o^reat cities were not far behind New 
York. Meetings were held, and organizations on 
the basis of the rules of the New York central 
body were formed. In Boston, on April 15, a 
ffreat meetino: was held in Faneuil Hall, at which 
Mr. John Dillon spoke. After the meeting, some 
hundreds of those present handed in their names 
as Land Leaguers, and subsequently held a meet- 
ing and appointed Hon. P. A. Collins, Chairman, 
with P. J. Flatley and P. J. O'Daly as Secreta- 
ries, and the following committee to perfect plans 
for a permanent organization of the League ; 
Messrs. Patrick Donahoe, M. F. Lynch, Thos. 
O'Flynn, John Tighe, Thos. E. Lambert, John J. 



222 LIFE or MICHAEL DAVITT. 

Hayes, and D. B. Casbman. The organization 
was perfected at a meetiug in John A. Andrew 
Hall, April 23. 

Michael Davitt left Ireland on Sunday, May 
10, for the United States, as the representative 
of the Irish Natif)nal Land League, to assist, with 
Mr. John Dillon, in the organization of the League 
throughout the States. He arrived just in time 
to attend the first National Convention of the Cen- 
tral Provisional Council, which was held in Trenor 
Hall, New York, on May 18, pursuant to a call 
issued by the sub-committee of seven. The Con- 
vention was opened by Mr. John C. McGnire, of 
Brooklyn, N. Y., when Mr. John Boyle O'Reilly, 
of Boston, was elected temporary chairman. On 
taking the chair, Mr. O'Reilly delivered the fol-. 
lowing address : — 

" He who should strike the true tone for the Land 
League of America must be one who looked over the 
whole field of- Irish political, social, and industrial in- 
terests, and who should speak a word to linger in the 
mind and smelt into harmonj' every healthy element of 
the race. This convention was essentially one of uni- 
fication. To-da3% with • millions in America, Irish 
nationality was only a sentiment. To-morrow it 
should be a sj^stem. The duty of the Convention was 
to reduce into operative form the best aspirations and 
principles of the people. When this is done, a danger 
is averted. It is wiser to follow organized principles 
than to follow men, however excellent they be. When 
the masses follow men, they may be dangerous to their 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 223 

enemy ; when they follow pi-inciples, they become ter- 
rible. Impotent action breeds contempt and pity. 
Too much of Ireland's national action has been futile 
and impotent. It is time to reduce the fight to reason 
and science, and take advantage of everj^ opportunity. 
Ireland must plead her case and make her charges 
against her powerful enemy, — not in the dark, where 
she may be strangled and gagged, as heretofore, — but 
in the market-place, before the world." 

The Hon. P. A. Collins, of Boston, was 
subsequently elected permanent President of the 
Convention ; Eev. S. Cronin, Buffalo, first Vice- 
President ; Patrick Madden, of Peoria, Treasurer ; 
and Dr. E. Shields, Westchester, N. Y., Secre- 
tary. The Convention adopted the following 
resolutions : — 

" Whereas, A famine has been raging in Ireland for 
the past six months, and at the present moment hun- 
dreds of thousands of the people are being fed by the 
charity of foreign nations ; and whereas, the terrible 
national affliction is of periodical recurrence, we deem 
it our dut}' to declare our conviction that these famines 
do not arise from natural causes, but are the results of 
bad laws enacted b}' the English Government and 
maintained despite the Irish people. Therefore, be it 

" Resolved, That it is the duty of every Irishman to 
aid to the utmost of his abilit}^ all honorable eflTort 
made b}^ the Irish people to free themselves from these 
ruinous laws. 

Resolved, That we regard the present system of land 
tenure in Ireland as one of the chief causes of famine, 



224 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

and of the chronic poverty and oppression which pre- 
vails in that countr}' . 

Resolved, That the National Land League of Ireland, 
having appealed to the Irish of America to assist them 
in removing the cause of poverty-, we hereb}- pledge 
the earnest co-operation of this organization to the 
Irish Land League, in the work of abolishing the pres- 
ent English land S3-stem, and establishing a peasant 
proprietary in Ireland. 

Resolved, That, while prepared to aid the Irish Land 
League to the utmost of our ability, we desire to place 
on record our conviction that the Idndred interests of 
manufacturing, raining, fisheries, and commerce are also 
being protracted b}' deliberate and wickedl}' selfish re- 
strictive legislation, and that poverty must remain the 
normal condition of the Irish people until the}' recog- 
nize the power to regulate and protect these interests." 

The board of officers elected l)y the Conven- 
tion for the National Oro^anization were ; Presi- 
dent, James J. McCafterty, Lowell, Mass. ; Vice- 
President, William Purcell, Rochester, N. Y. ; 
Treasurer, Eev. Lawrence Walsh, Waterbiiry, 
Conn. ; Recording Secretary, Michael Davitt ; 
Council, — Thaddeus Flanagan, San Francisco; 
Lawrence Harmou, Peoria, 111, ; Wm. Carroll, 
Philadeli:)hia ; Jas. Gibson, Paterson, N. J. ; J. O. 
Roddy, Richmond, Va. ; P. K. Walsh, Cincin- 
nati, and M. E. Welsh, Providence, R. I. 

The Central Council was instructed to meet 
regularly once in three months to pass on all 
questions of discipline and adjust disturbances in 
the branches of the League, and to tix the time 



LIFE OF jriCTIAEL DAVITT. 225 

for general conventions. A general convention 
was directed to be held once a year. To it each 
branch having 300 members or under was entitled 
to send a delegate, and each branch having over 
300 delegates to send au additional delegate. The 
initiation fee was fixed at $1, and the annual fees 
not more than $1. 

After Mr, John Dillon had delivered a speech, 
in which he gave an account of his three months' 
labors in America, Mr. Davitt was called for by 
the Convention. In response, he delivered the 
following address : — 

" Mj' first duty is to thank this Convention for the 
privilege of being present. I feel proud to find so 
man3' able and intelligent men earnestly' working to 
help us in destroying landlordism. This movement 
extends from Dublin to San Francisco. It is a good 
omen that it will succeed when it reaches out so far 
and interests so raan}^, and a sign that it will not fail 
like other movements. I am happy to sa}- that the 
Land League movement in Ireland is in capital hands 
and trim, after a series of successes during the past 
six months. But these successes are onl}- indicative 
of what is to come. While satisfied with them, we 
cannot still be content. We have succeeded all along 
the line, and what we have alread^^ done is a guarantee 
of what the future has in store. By 5'our action to-day 
3'ou have widened the programme outlined by the Land 
League in Ireland ; but, although we omitted the In- 
dustrial question from the movement, it was not 
because we were unaware of its importance, or of the 



226 LIFE or MICHAEL DAVITT. 

evils which Ireland's commerce suffers through unjust 
laws. 

" I can assure you now that the addition which you 
have made to the platform to-day will be accepted by 
the Irish people on the other side. As the movement for 
the aholition of the Irish landlord system teas first start- 
ed here, I am glad that this later addition to it is made 
here also. I thank you warmly on behalf of the Irish 
people and the Land League for the. magnificent sup- 
port you have given them in the past, and for your 
generous preparations for the future. With such 
aid we will soon dispose of the greatest enemy to Ire- 
land's welfare and progress. The organization of 
land leagues is now going on rapidly in the four prov- 
inces ; and I am happy to say that the farmers in Ulster 
are following the example of those of Leiuster, Con- 
naught, and Munster in the grand work. The plan 
we work on is simple. We resort to every fair means 
to pull down and destroy the t3^rant landlordism, and 
to trample it in the dust of its own rottenness. We 
cannot do it by parliamentary action alone, and we 
don't propose -to confine ourselves to that means. 
What we propose is that the action of our men in 
Parliament shall be the reflex of the work going on in 
Ireland. It is an action of no compromise, and no man 
going to the House of Commons can sa}^ that oiu* peo- 
ple will be satisfied with fixit}^ of tenure or other mild 
feforras. 

" There are two means which we pursue to accom- 
plish our end. The first is a policy of destruction by 
hammering against the landlords and landlordism, — 
rack-rents. We are satisfied with nothing but their 
total abolition. In the House of Commons we pursue 



LIFE OF MICHAEL D WITT. 227 

a constructive policy, so tliat 3'ouT\'ill he able to recon- 
cile the speeches in Ireland against landlordism and 
in favor of the abolition of rents, and the speeches in 
the House which might not seem to be in keeping with 
those delivered by members of the same party in Ire- 
land. If a landlord evicts a tenant, then the Land 
League takes action in the courts against him ; and in 
eveiy case, so far, we have won a victory. I don't 
think, in the face of the feeling prevailing at present in 
Ireland, that many wholesale evictions will take place, 
and I don't think a Liberal Government could afford 
to permit them. We aim to impress the farmers with 
the necessity of refusing to take any farm from which 
another tenant has been evicted, nor to bid for any 
cattle sold for rent. As an instance, a farmer named 
Reddingtonhad his cattle seized for rent ; but previous 
to the seizure he branded their horns with the words, 
' rack-rent.' When the sale took place there were 
few bidders, although man}'- persons attended, and the 
cattle were sold for one-third of their value. 

"In conclusion, let me say, gentlemen, that the 
• people of Ireland are full of confidence in 3'ou, and I 
think from what I have seen here to-day ihat they will 
not be mistaken. I can pledge to j'ou their warmest 
gratitude for the sinews of war which you have fur- 
nished them to fight their great battle." 

The Convention adjourned after having placed 
the national movement in America on a solid foun- 
dation, on which has since been built throughout 
the Union over eleven hundred branches, that are 
weekly sending to Ireland large amounts of money 



228 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

for the prosecution of the crusade against land- 
lordism. 

On Sunday, May 23, a reception was given to 
Mr. Davitt, in Jones' Wood, New York, at which 
Mrs. Parnell, the honored and patriotic mother of 
Charles Stewart Parnell, and her daughter. Miss 
Fanny Parnell, were present. The following is 
an extract from the speech delivered on that occa- 
sion by Mr. Davitt : — 

" I speak to-day in the hearing of an illustrious 
Irishwoman, the mother of an iUustrious Irishman, and 
cannot aMowmj'sclf to be placed before him, the leader 
and the guiding spirit to wliom is due the series of suc- 
cesses scored during the past j^ear. The problem 
before us when we organized was simple, and our plat- 
form contains this single plank, — the destruction of 
landlordism and the winning of the land for the people, 
to whom it belongs. The Irish League includes all 
parties, — Nationalists, Moderates, Home Rulers, Re- 
pealers, and all sects, — Catholics and Protestants 
meeting in council to work until Ireland's social rights 
are won and her enemj- struck down forever. We work 
by teaching peasants and all people that the land was 
made for them, and not for 10,000 lazy Englishmen ; 
that, if they allow themselves to be trampled upon, they 
are worthy of oppression, and that they are to rel}' on 
themselves alone and not upon foreign or hostile legis- 
lators. Together with this system of instruction, we 
warn them not to despise the honest efforts in their 
behalf of Irishmen in Parliament, and that no principle 
is sacrificed by recognizing the courageous fight of 



LIFE OF P.IICnAEL DAVITT. 229 

Parnell. When the people of Ireland find that united 
they can strike down rack-rents and prevent evictions 
while their friends labor in legislation, the}- can herald 
the day when these abuses Avill be swept away forever. 

" We ask your aid, moral and material. We mean 
to attack this system openly and fairly, unscrupulous 
though ojir enem}'^ be. We want you, too, to be united, 
— you who hope to see Ireland a nation ; and 3-ou Avho 
think she is too weak for that, but still desire her inde- 
pendence." 

Davitt now went to work to build up the League 
throuirhoiit the States. His first official act as 
Secretary of the Irish National Land and Industrial 
League was to have issued to " the Irish race iii 
America" an address from the Council of the 
League, which bore his signature as Central Secre- 
tary, with those of the other officers. In this ad- 
dress occurred the following paragraphs, showing 
how the Land League expected its supporters in 
America to aid the objects of the home organiza- 
tion : — 

^'- First. — Ey enlightening American public opinion 
as to the working of the Landlord S^'stem, and by ex- 
posing through the columns of the American press the 
oppressions and outrages which are practised on the 
tenant-farmers of Ireland. 

" Second. — B3' the immense moral influence which 
their support exerts on the people at home, encouraging 
them to be steadfast in the struggle, and not to give 
way to despair. 

" Third. — By contributing sufficient means to enable 



230 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

the League to carry on the movement in Ireland on 
such a scale as is necessary to insure success." 

And also the following purposes for which as- 
sistance was asked in America : — 

" Up to the present," said the document, " through 
want of money, the League has been obliged to confine 
its operations chiefly to a few counties. The purposes 
for which funds are needed are : — 

'■'■ First. — To enable the League to spread its organi- 
zation tlu'oughout the thirtj^-two counties of Ireland. 

'■''Second. — Pending the abolition of landlordism, to 
aid local branches of the Land League to defend in the 
courts such farmers as maj'' be served with processes of 
ejectment, and thus enable them to obstruct such land- 
lords as avail themselves of the poverty of the tenantry 
and the machinery of the law to exterminate the 
victims of the existing system. 

" Third.— To enable the League to afford protection 
to those who are unjustly evicted. Already the League 
has been obliged to undertake the support of the 
families of the men who were recently sentenced to 
imprisonment for resisting eviction in one of the fam- 
ine districts, and it is now supporting evicted families. 

" Fourth. — To oppose the supporters of landlordism 
whenever and wherever they endeavor to obtain an}-- 
representative position in L-eland which would be the 
means of aiding them in prolonging the existence of 
the present land laws and perpetuating the social de- 
gradation and miser}' of our people." 

Mr. Davitt was now unceasing in his exertions 
in establishing branches. He visited a great many 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 231 

cities nil through the country, leaving perfected 
oriiauizations after him Avherever he went, and 
arousing tiie })Oople to greater exertions ; so that, 
along with the large sums weekly sent from 
America to aid the starving people, veiy consider- 
able amounts began also to be sent for League 
purposes ; the Irish National Land League being 
particular to expend for the relief of distress the 
money sent for that purpose, not touching a cent 
for League objects, except what was specifically 
mentioned as Ijeing iiitcnded for such. 

The noI)lec()nductofAmericaduringthis terrible 
famine crisis in Ireland will ever be written on 
the memory of the Irish race in letters of gold, 
and in significant contrast to the callous and mean 
conduct of the British Government in treating the 
distress. The Constellation, which sailed on 
jMarch 28, laden with America's practical bounty 
for the starving people, was met on her arrival in 
Quecnstowu, April 20, by a Royal Duke, and a 
British Admiral with his war ship. They became 
BO officious in Jielping the mode of distribution of 
the cargo as to almost give .the impression that 
the relief ship and the food had come from Eng- 
land, instead of from the United States ; and they 
certainly did filch a great share of the credit of 
that transaction. England is mean enough to rob 
a beggarman, and refuse him an alms out of the 
plunder. 

An important event occurred some time after 



232 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

Mr. Parnell's return to Ireland. The elections 
had resulted favorably to the supporters of the 
Land League, and the active section in Parlia- 
ment was considerably increased. At a conference 
of the Irish parliamentary party, held in May, Mv. 
Parnell was elected leader, instead of Mr. Shaw. 
This position of prominence to Mr. Parnell was 
of the utmost importance to the furtherance of 
the objects of the League, which were placed in the 
fore-fi'ont of all questions emanating from the 
party. It also guaranteed that the peo^de's fight 
against the landlords would be vigijrously prose- 
cuted in the House, until suitable legislation on 
the subject would have been obtained. 

In the beginning of July, Mr. Forstcr, Chief 
Secretary for Ireland, introduced a relief bill into 
Parliament, entitled, "The Compensation for 
Disturbance (Ireland) Bill." The bill met with 
great opposition, even from some members of 
Gladstone's Cabinet, — one of whom, the jNIarquis 
of Lansdowne, the owner of 135,500 acres in Ire- 
land, resigned his position as under-secretary for 
India, in consequence. In the debate on the bill, 
July 5, Mr. Gladstone said, — 

" The greater part of the opposition to the bill was 
/ a revival of smouldering hostility to the Land Act. 
The bill must be judged from the standpoint of the 
Land Act, which created for the tenant an interest in 
the land, and improved the value, though it interfered 
with, property. Evictions, he said, were lamentably 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 266 

increasing ; ami it was necessaiy to emplo}' a large 
number of police to enforce processes. Such a state of 
tilings nearl}' approached danger of civil war, and it 
was therefore necessary to talce measures to prevent a 
scritnis crisis. The best means to combat anti-rent 
agitation was to remove justification for agitation." 

The bill finally passed the Commons, but was 
killed in the Ploiise of Lords by a vote of 282 to 
51. The landlord influence was at work in the 
aristocratic " Upper House," and succeeded in in- 
ducing the "titled idlers" to strangle the bill. 

For the portion of the year up to July 1, 1880, 
1606 evictions were reported in Ireland, distri- 
buted as follows : In Ulster, 552 ; in Munster, 
495 ; in Leinster, 417 ; and in Connaught, 232. 
Tills would represent about 8,000 people who 
were thrown on the roadside by the landlords. 
After that date, owing to the thoroughness of the 
Laud League organization, the ejectments con- 
siderably decreased. 

Davitt travelled much, and worked hard through 
the summer months, in organizing branches 
throughout the West; and in the early part of 
September he was attacked with nervous fever, in 
Omaha, Nebraska, brought on by overtaxing his 
brain and physical powers. The gigantic work 
which he accomplislied within a year was suf- 
ficient to break down a much stronger man. He 
soon rallied, however, and continued his tour to 
the Pacific coast, where he lectured in the chief 



234 LIFE OF MICIIxYEL DAVITT. 

towns. On September 21, un address from "the 
reformers of the West to JNIiebael Davitt, the 
persecuted agitator and heroic apostle of the new 
civilization," was presented to him, in San 
Francisco, by Denis Kearney. The address 
ai>ounded in the peculiar figures of speech for 
which Kearney Avas celebrated. Davitt's satirical 
reply was a hit which Denis should remember and 
profit by. lie said, — 

"To 'agitator' I make no objection, as every re- 
former must stir up and agitate the mass of his peoi)le 
if they are to achieve the object for which they stiug- 
gle ; I)ut as to tlic title of ' heroic apostle of the new 
civilization ' I can lay no particle of claim, as I am too 
irreverent for the dignity of an apostle, and too ig- 
norant of what is to constitute the new civilization you 
credit me with propagating. I am fond of old names, 
about the meaning of which there can be no mistake, 
and I am of opinion that there is no advantage gained 
for the cause of reform by enveloping ideas or clothing 
principles in ambiguous or new-fangled language." 

A new and novel feature in the agitation oc- 
curred in October. On the 15th of tlnit month, 
Miss Fanny Parnell, assisted by other })atri()tic 
ladies, called a meeting in the New York Hotel, 
at which about lifty ladies w^ere present. The 
meeting organized the "Ladies' Land League of 
New Yorlv," and appointed the following officers: 
— President, Mrs. D. T. Stewart Parnell; Vice- 
President, Miss Ellen Ford ; Financial Secretary, 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 235 

Miss Funny Parncll ; Treasurer, Mrs. Andrew 
Maguire ; Recording Secretary, Miss Mary E. 
Magtiire ; Corresponding Secretary, Miss Jane 
Byrne. The Ladies' League has since been 
wonderfully developed by the untiring energy of 
Mrs. Parnell and Mtss Ellen Ford. Its branches 
are spreading out in all directions Avhere exists 
the National Land League, and Miss Anna Par- 
nell has established a large number of branches 
in several counties in Ireland. 

The news from Ireland that the Government 
was to indict Mr. Parnell and the other Land 
Leaii^ue leaders brouofht Mr. Davitt as-ain to the 
East, determined to start at once for Ireland. 
Mr. Parnell and the Executive of the League 
requested Mr. Davitt to remain in the States, 
where his services would have been invaluable; 
but this he positively refused to do, saying that 
where there was danger there his post should be. 
Just before his departure for Ireland an inunense 
meeting, organized by the Ladies' Land League, 
was held in New York, and presided over b}' the 
president, Mrs. Parnell. At this meeting Mr. 
Davitt delivered his last address in America. 

He arrived in Queenstown on Saturday, Nov- 
ember 20, and two days afterwards spoke at a 
Land Leaijue demonstration held at Mallow. In 
his speech he gave the following temperate ad- 
vice : He said he understood the teinper of the 
American people pretty well, and he believed 



236 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

tlmt the late acts of agrarian violence in Ireland 
had done the Land Leagne cause mnch haiin in 
the United States. AVhile he knew that the Land 
League was not, and could not be, held res[)onsi- 
ble in any way for those outrages, he would urge 
upon its members to use every effort to prevent 
a recurrence of them, if they wished to retain 
American sympathy. Snch an organization as 
the Land League was the only one that could re- 
move the terrible incubus of landlordism. The 
Leagne, like the Government, desired the secu- 
rity of life and property ; but, unlike the Govern- 
ment, it desiicd it for millions instead of for a 
few. 

A great deal of excitement was caused all 
through Ireland, early in November, bv the war 
on " Captain" Boycott, — an Englishman, agent for 
Lord Erne. Bo\colt"s residence was at Louoli 
Mask House, near Bailinrobe, County Mayo, lie 
Was an agent of the worst type, and h:id had 
difBculties with his workpeople, which showed 
him to be a paltry, mean-souled fellow. The 
culmination of the trouble arose out of his having 
ejectment notices served (ju Lord Erne's tenants. 
A body of police were piotecling the process- 
server when serving, the writs. The people at- 
tacked the party, who retreated and found refuge 
in Lough Mask House. Next day the whole side 
of the country struck against Boycott, and re- 
duced him and his family to a stale of siege. His 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 237 

servants were ordered to leave him, and they did 
so. No person could be liired to do a hand's-tiirn 
for the Englishman. A party of Orangemen were 
then organized, which, protected hy a large force 
of military, proceeded to Lough Mask to save the 
agent's crops, that were lotting in the ground for 
want of harvesting. When the crops were ga- 
thered, the Orangemen, with Boycott and his 
family, surrounded by the small army of horse, 
foot, and artillery sent to protect them, left that 
part of the country, amid the groans and hootings 
of the people. The " Captain " left Lough jMask 
with a whole skin, owing to the advice of the 
Land League to the people. It is not likely that 
lie will soon again visit that section. This was a 
caution to other land agents in the West. Shortly 
afterwards thirteen landlords, agents, and others 
were "Boycotted" at Knockamore, a vilhigc near 
Walshtown, and from tliat time "Boycotting"' has 
become a wonderful power in the hands of the 
people. It completely ostracizes a man from 
communication with his neighbors. No one will 
buy or sell to him, or perform his work. It Avas 
just the weapon needed to scourge the enemies of 
the people "inside the law," and it has proved 
more effective than bullets. 

The Gladstone Government had now deter- 
mined on a vigorous crusade against the Land 
League, which had become powerful enough to 
shake the foundations of Irish landlordism. Its 



238 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

commands and decrees Avei'e religiously obejed 
by the people. When IMr. Parncll was in 
America there were only thirty branches of the 
League in Ireland, and they were very Aveak. 
There were, in December, 1880, fully five hun- 
dred, and in each branch about two hundred pay- 
in"^ members were enrolled, makinoj altom'.ther one 
hundred thousand paying recruits under its flag. 

The Government began its skirmishing against 
the League by arresting Messrs. Healy and Walsh, 
who Averc ti'icd for sedition at the Cork assizes, 
December 15, and acquitted by the jury after one 
hour's deliberation. More troops were being 
daily drafted into Ireland, with immense cpiantitics 
of war material, including 20,000 rounds of buck- 
shot from Woolwich, as landlord pills, to be given 
the people with the ejectment writs; in case the 
latter was refused, the former were to be adminis- 
tered. 

On Tuesday evening, November 2, indict- 
ments were lodged by the Government against 
Messrs. Parnell, Dillon, Biggar, Timothy O'Sulii- 
van, Sexton, Egan, Brennau, Malachy O'Sullivan, 
Boyton, Gordon Harris, Nally, Welsh, and 
Sheridan, for conspiracy. They comprised nine- 
teen counts, including preventingpayment of rent, 
defeating legal process, and obstructing the letting 
of farms and exciting hatred. 

The trials began in Dublin on December 28. 
The line of defence, which was sketched by 



LirK OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 239 

IMichacl Davitt, was to deny the League's re- 
sponsibility for agrarian outrages, and to fortify 
the denial b}' quoting press statements ; also, to 
show that, notwithstanding the sufferings and 
distress through which the country had passed, 
the percentage of attacks on individuals was un- 
usually small. The state trials lasted twenty-eight 
days'; and on Jamiarv 25, 1881, when the jur3H'anie 
into court, the foreman stated thatit was impossible 
for them to agree, whereupon they were dis- 
charged ; a juror previously stated th^t ten stood 
for acquittal, against two for conviction. 

The Government, anticipating the failure to 
suppress the agitation through the law courts, de- 
terniined to suspend the Constitution and strangle 
the agitation by the brute force of coercion. 
Accordingly, the day before the acquittal of the 
traversers, — on January 24, 1881, — the Coer- 
cion Bill now in force, entitled a "Bill for the 
jM-otection of life andpropert3Mn Ireland," was in- 
troduced in the House of Commons. Under 
its provisions any person may be arrested and 
thro^vn into prison, to remain there until the 
30lh of September, 1882, Vvithout trial or appeal, 
on the mere sus]:)icion of a policeman or magis- 
trate. Under this infamous Act a large number 
of the principal organizers of the Land League 
have since been arrested and consiijned to Kil- 
mainhara and Galway prisons. . The active section 
of the Irish party in Parliament gallantly fought 



240 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

the Coercion Bill, step by .step, through nil its 
stiifjes, and were so successful in obstructiuij its 
passage through the House that the Government 
had to resort to the doLure gag, and expel them 
from the House of Con)mons before it was possible 
for it to pass. The British Parliament destroyed, 
by this act, its boasted independence, ii member 
being at present completely at the mercy of the 
Speaker, who at any time may "name him," and 
have him suspended during the sitting. 

After Mr. Davitt's de[)arture for Ireland, the 
National Land League in America was left with- 
out an executive head, by the disappearance, 
rather suddenly and unexpectedly, of its Presi- 
dent, James J. McCafferty, of Lowell. A con- 
vention was therefore convened at Butlalo, N. Y., 
on January 13, and the following Board of Offi- 
cers elected : President, P. A. Collins, of Bos- 
ton : Vice-presidents, Pev. P. Cronin, of Bulialo ; 
Major T. P. Powdery, of Scranton, Penn. ; Treas- 
urer, Rev. Lawrence Walsh, of Watcrbury, Conn. ; 
Secretary, Thomas Fiatley, of Boston. 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 241 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Davitt Aruesthd.— Again in a Convict's Garb.— Port- 
land Prison described. — The Ticket-of-Leave. — The 
News in the House of Commons. — Expulsion of 
Thirty-four Members.— The National Land League 
Convention.— No Peace in Ireland while Davitt is 
IN A Convict's Cell. 

" Though the Saxon snake unfold 
At thy feet his scales of gold, 
And vow thee love untold, 

Trust him not, Green Land! 
Touch not with gloveless clasp 
A coiled and deadly asp, 
But with strong and guarded grasp 
In your steel-clad hand! " 

— R. D. "Williams. 

MichaelDavitt arrested ! was flashed through 
the Atlantic wires, Februarys, 1881. The mean 
and vindictive Liberal ( ! ) Government, foiled by 
Parnell and his colleagues in its purpose of rush- 
ing through Parliament the Coercion Bill, had 
pounced on the leader of a people struggling to 
free themselves from an oppression condemned 
by the same Government, and flung him back into 
a convict cell, into the company of the scum of 
British crime. Gladstone and Forster, while 
pretending sympathy to the wronged and sufier- 
ing millions in Ireland, were tying up their victim 
with coercion cords, that they might the more 



242 LIFE OF MICHAEL DA VITT. 

easily vent their brut:il malice on the agitators. 
The Irish law courts refused to convict the Land 
League leaders : therefore, the British Govern- 
ment suspended the law, to punish the people who 
were bold enough to demand their God-given 
rights. Davitt, the noble-hearted, gifted, and 
honored champion of his country's cause against 
oppression, who had already suffered long years 
of torture, dragged back to a British dungeon on 
a contemptible pretext of having violated the 
terms of his ticket-of-leave, — the civilized world 
cried shame I on the miserable tyrants who could 
stoop to so paltry a trick of state policy to serve 
an ignoble purpose. Mr. Davitt's arrest was 
effected in the following manner : On Thursday, 
February 3, Mr. Davitt had been working at the 
League offices with the Ladies' Eelief Committee, 
who were busy getting out their addresses to the 
Irish people. Between two and. three o'clock he 
left the offices to dine. With him were Mr. 
Brennan, the Secretary of the League, and Mr. 
Matthew Harris, of Ballinasloe, — both of them 
defendants in the recent State trial. They walked 
down Sackville Street, and were crossing O'Con- 
nell Bridge, when a detective officer named Sherri- 
dan approached Mr. Davitt and said, " Mr. 
Davitt, you are wanted at the Castle." Mr. 
Davitt said good-by to his friends, and walked to 
the Castle with the officer. There he was taken 
in charge by two English detectives, who told 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAYITT. 243 

him that they had orders for his arrest on the 
ground of breach of the conditions of his ticket- 
of-leave. He at once yielded to circumstance, 
and handed over his revolver, requesting the chief 
detective to give it to Mr. Brennan. About half 
an hour afterward, Mr. Brennan went to the de- 
tective office at the Castle, and asked Superinten- 
dent Mallon, chief of the detective force, what 
had become of Davitt. Mallon refused to give 
information, and simply stated that English 
detectives had taken him away in a cab a few 
minutes previously. 

The detectives — Chief Superintendent William- 
son and detective officer Swanston — drove with 
their prisoner in a cab to Kingstown, where they 
went on board the mail steamer Connaught^ and 
sailed for England that evening. To Dr. Kenny, 
who obtained an interview with him before the 
boat sailed, Mr.- Davitt said that the Government 
had done a cowardly act and committed a gross 
blunder. Mr. Michael Davitt arrived in London 
on Friday morning, February 4, when passage 
was taken from Kingstown to Euston. There 
was a considerable assembly on the arrival plat- 
form at Euston ; but, to avoid any demonstration, 
Superintendent Williamson, who had eight or nine 
©fficers with him, alighted at Willesden Junction 
with Mr. Davitt, and proceeded to Broad Street, 
whence they drove to Bow Street, where the 
prisoner was lodged until his appearance before 



244 ' LIFE or MICHAEL DAVITT. 

the sitting magistrate. A pilot engine preceded 
the train which brought Mr. Davitt to London. 
Upon reaching Bow Street, arrangements were 
made that Mr. Davitt should be immediately 
taken before the sitting magistrate. Sir James 
Ingham was in attendance, and at once proceeded 
to hear the case. The evidence consisted simply 
of the production, by Superintendent William- 
son, of the warrant, and the evidence of that 
officer that the prisoner was the same Michael 
Davitt who was convicted at the Central Criminal 
Court on July 11, 1870. The prisoner wished 
to put some questions regarding the reason of the 
revoking of the license ; but he was informed that 
that was no question for the magistrate, who had 
simply to ascertain that he was the convict whose 
license had been revoked. Sir J. Ingham there- 
upon signed a warrant for the committal of the 
prisoner to Millbank, to which prison he was at 
once conveyed, escorted in a similar way to that 
on his arrival at the court. 

Michael Davitt, in charge of a party of detec- 
tives, left Millbank Prison on Saturday morning, 
February 5, and proceeded by the quarter to six 
train from Waterloo, which arrived at Weymouth 
just before noon. They travelled in a special 
first-class carriage, scarcely any one appearing to 
know, at either the departure or arrival station, 
who the occupants were. When the train arrived 
at Weymouth, one of the platform porters, as 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 245 

usual, was about to open the door, not knowing 
who was in the carriage, when one of the officers 
requested him to wait a few minntes, and then, 
when most of the passengers had left, the party 
emerged and proceeded to^ a carriage. Davitt 
was not dressed in convict uniform, and wall^ed 
with a bold, defiant air to the carriage, which im- 
mediately drove off; and before two o'clock he 
was lodged in Portland Prison, not a dozen indi- 
vidnals being aware of it. A report said he 
looked haggard and pale. The authorities at the 
prison have received orders to use the greatest 
vigilance and care, the sentries and guards beino: 
considerably increased ; whilst the police and mili- 
tary had full instructions how to act, should any 
emergency arise. Strangers were closelj'- scruti- 
nized, and no one was allowed to loiter near the 
prison without being challenged. 

" Mr. Davitt's transfer to Portland," said a corre- 
spondent, writing to an Irish newspaper, " removes him 
to the spot as ' far from the busy haunts of men ' as 
any which can possiblj' be conceived within the limits 
of the British islands. It is not so inaccessible as 
Dartmoor, where the convicts are lodged upon the 
highest of the bleak tablelands of humid Devon ; but 
the solitude is equally depressing, and to a man of 
active temperament must be terrible iu its intensity. 
Upon a map of the British Isles, 30U ma}^ see," he 
sa3's, " off the county of Dorset, a place not much 
bigger tlian a piu's head, which, if marked at all, is 
described as the Isle of Portland. This, however, is 



246 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

not correct ; it is not an island, but a peninsula, joined 
to the mainland by an extraordinary formation known 
as the Chisel Beach, — an enormous ridge of pebbles 
which in the course of thousands of years has been 
"thrown up by the sea. Along the base of this natural 
breakwater runs the railway connecting Portland with 
Weymouth. It is a single narrow-gauge line ; the 
accomplishment of the journey takes twenty minutes, 
and there is a little station named Rodwell half-way 
between the twain. Standing upon the parade at 
Weymouth on a summer evening, and listening to the 
music of the bands which never fail to enliven life at 
a fashionable watering-place, it is difficult to believe 
that, in yonder rocky islet, hundreds of desperadoes 
are confined in what to them must be a living tomb ; 
for upon the portals of that grim prison might appro- 
priately enough be inscribed the words of Dante, 
'•Abandon hope, all ye who enter here!' Leaving 
Weymouth by the little railway, after passing Rod- 
well, you seem suddenl}' to have lost sight of civiliza- 
tion ; for scarcely a sound is to be heard beyond the 
deep diapason of the sea. Landing at Portland, at a 
primitive village called Castletown, you find yourself 
at the base of a precipitous hill, at the top of which 
stands the convict prison. On a hot day Bunyan's 
Hill of Difficulty is nothing to this toilsome ascent. 
There is not a tree or a shrub in the whole of the 
peninsula ; so that shade amid the noontide heat is im- 
possible. Standing upon the summit of that acclivity 
on a hot da^', and looking down upon the West Bay, 
solitary amid the activit}'' which marks the great high- 
way of the Channel, one is irresistibl}' reminded of 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 247 

Tennyson's description of Enoch Arden's place of 
exile — 

** ' The blaze upon the waters to the east, 
The blaze upon the island overhead, 
The blaze upon the waters to the west, 
Then the great stars that globed themselves in heaven, 
The hollow-bellowing ocean, and again 
The scarlet shafts of sunlight — but no sail" 

Portland is one vast mass of stone, where the quarries 
have been worked for centuries ; and, so far as convict 
labor is applied to them, very hard work it is. Wher- 
ever the eye turns, there is no relief from the white, 
blinding aspect which meets the view. Houses, 
hedges, garden walls, roads, hills, valleys, — all are of 
stone. The free population of the peninsula subsists 
in seven isolated and scattered villages, each lonely in 
its desolation ; and close outside the prison walls is 
the loneliest of these — the village of Reform. Pre- 
viously to my day of toil over Portland, I had always 
thought the Island of Sark was abou# the quietest 
place in the creation ; but Sark possesses the advan- 
tage of luxuriant vegetation, while Portland is a mere 
arid rock. Even a free man gets away from it with a 
feeling of relief, and with an idea that he would rather 
dwell in the midst of alarms than live in that horrible 
place." 

Such is the present abode of Michael Davitt, 
the life and soul of the Irish National Land 
League, and the organizer of the greatest agi- 
tation ever witnessed in Irehmd. 

The following is a copy of the ticket-of-leave 



248 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

that furnished the pretext for the arrest. Aprojjos 
of this ticket-of-leave, the following were the 
reasons why Mr. Davitt did not report monthly 
at the nearest police-station, which was the regu- 
lation not complied with : When Mr. Davitt, and 
Messrs. Chambers, McCarthy, and O'Brien were 
released, a compact was entered into between 
them that they should observe the regulations so 
long as any of the political prisoners were kept 
in custody ; but, when the remaining prisoners 
■were amnestied, they did not feel themselves 
longer obliged to comply with the rules, and 
they acted accordingly. 

MICHAEL DAVITT'S " TICKET-OF-LEAVE." 




Order of Licence to a Convict made under the Stat- 
utes 16 and 17 Vict., c. 99, s. 9, and 27 and 28 
ViCT., c. 47, s. 4. 

Whitehall, 

19th day or December, 1878. 
HER MAJESTY is graciouslj pleased to grant to 
Michael Davitt^ who was convicted of Treason-Felony 
at the Central Criminal Court, holden in the City of 
London on the 20th day of July, 1870, and was then 
and there sentenced to be kept in Penal Servitude for 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 249 

the term of fifteen years, and is now confined in Dart- 
moor Prison, 

Her Royal Licence to be at large from the day of his 
liberation under this order, during the remaining 
portion of his said term of Penal Servitude, unless the 
said Michael Davitt shall, before the expiration of the 
said term, be convicted of some indictable offence 
within the United Kingdom, in which case such Licence 
will be immediatel}' forfeited bj' law, or unless it shall 
please her Majesty sooner to revoke or alter such 
Licence. 

This Licence is given subject to the conditions en- 
dorsed upon the same, upon the breach of any of which 
it shall be liable to be revoked, whether such breach is 
followed by a conviction or not. 

And her Majesty hereby orders that the said Michael 
Davitt be set at liberty within Thirty Days from the 
date of this Order. 

Given under my hand and seal. /Tjyp yf (^ 

Signed, C/i?. tS^. ^iO^d. 

TRUE COPT. ^ p JZ f/),,f)^,,p 

Licence to be at Large. ] ^- ^- yJUf^linV, 

Chairman of the Directors 
of Convict Prisons. 

This Licence will be Forfeited if the Holder does 

NOT observe the FOLLOWING CONDITIONS. 

The Holder shall preserve his Licence, and produce 
it when called upon to do so by a Magistrate or Police 
Officer. 

He shall abstain from d^ny violation of the law. 

He shall not habituall}- associate with notoriously 
bad characters, such as reputed thieves and prostitutes. 



250 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

He shall not lead au idle and dissolute life, without 
visible means of obtaining jni honest livelihood. 

If his Licence is forfeited or revoked in consequence 
of a conviction for any offence, he will be liable to 
undergo a Term of Penal Servitude equal to the portion 
of his term of fifteen years which remained unexpired 
when his licence was granted. 

The attention of the Licence-holder is directed to the 

following provisions of "The Prevention of Crimes 

Act, 1871." 

If it appear from the facts proved before a court of 
summary jurisdiction that there are reasonable grounds 
for believing that the convict so brought before it is 
getting his livelihood by dishonest means, such convict 
shall be deemed to be guilt}^ of an offence against the Pre^ 
vention of Crimes Act, and his licence shall be forfeited. 

Every holder of a licence granted under the Penal 
Servitude Acts who is at large in Great Britain or 
Ireland, shall notify the place of his residence to the 
chief officer of police of the district in which his resi- 
dence is situated, and shall, whenever he changes such 
residence within the same police district, notify such 
change to the chief officer of police of that district, and 
whenever he changes his residence from one police dis- 
trict to another, shall notify such change of residence 
to the chief officer of police of the police district which 
he is leaving, and to the chief officer of police of the 
police district into which he goes to reside ; moreover, 
every male holder of such a licence as aforesaid shall, 
once in each month, report himself at such time as may 
be prescribed by the chief officer of police of the dis- 
trict in which such holder may be, either to such chief 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 251 

officer himself or to such other person as that officer 
may direct, and such report may, according as such 
chief officer directs, be required to be made personally 
or by letter. 

If any holder of a licence who is at large in Great 
Britain or Ireland, remains in an}' place for fortj'-eight 
hours without notifying the place of his residence 
to the chief officer of police of the district in which 
such place is situated, or fails to comply with the 
requisitions of this section on the occasion of any 
change of residence, or with the requisitions of this 
section as to reporting himself once in each month, he 
shall in every such case, unless he proves to the satisfac- 
tion of the Court before whom he is tried that he did his 
best to act in conformity with the law, be guilty of an 
offence against the Prevention of Crimes Act, and, 
upon conviction thereof, his licence may in the discre- 
tion of the Court be forfeited ; or if the term of Penal 
Servitude in respect of which his licence was granted 
has expired, at the date of his conviction, it shall be 
lawful for the court to sentence him to imprisonment, 
with or without Hard Labor, for a term not exceeding 
one year ; or if the said term of Penal Servitude has 
not expired but the remainder unexpired thereof is a 
lesser period than one year, then to sentence him to 
imprisonment, with or without Hard Labor, to com- 
mence at the expiration of the said term of Penal 
Servitude, for such a term as, together with the re- 
mainder unexpired of his said term of Penal Servitude, 
will not exceed one 3'ear. 

Where an}' person is convicted on indictment of a 
crime, and a previous conviction of a crime is proved 
against him, he shall, at any time within seven 3'ears, 



252 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

im mediately' after the expiration of the sentence passed 
on him for the last of such crimes, be guilty of an 
offence against the Prevention of Crimes Act, and be 
liable to imprisonment with or without hard labor, for 
a term not exceeding one year, under the following 
circumstances or any of them : — 
First. If, on his being charged by a constable with 
getting his livelihood by dishonest means, and 
being brought before a court of summary jurisdic- 
tion, it appears to such court that there are 
reasonable grounds for believing that tiie person 
so charged is getting his livelihood by dishonest 
means ; or, 
Secondly. If on being charged with any offence 
punishable on iudi-ctment or summaiy conviction, 
and on being required by a court of summary 
jurisdiction to give his name and address he 
refuses to do so, or gives a false name or a false 
address ; or, 
Thirdly. If he is found in anj^ place, whether public 
or private, under such circumstances as to satisfy 
the court before whom he is brought, that he was 
about to commit or to aid in the commission of 
any offence punishable on indictment or summary 
conviction, or was waiting for an opportunity' to 
commit or aid in the commission of any offence 
punishable on indictment or summary conviction ; 
or, 
Fourthly. If he is found in or upon any dwelling- 
liouse, or any building, yard, or premises, being 
parcel of or attached to such dwelling-house, or in 
or upon any shop, warehouse, counting-house, or 
other place of business, or in any garden, orchard, 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 253 

pleasure-ground, or nursery-ground, or in any 
building or erection in any garden, orchard, 
pleasure-ground, or nui'serj^-ground, without being 
able to account to the satisfaction of the Court 
before whom he is brought for his being found on 
such premises. 



Mr. Davitt's arrest caused intense excitement 
and indignation in Ireland, England, and Amer- 
ica. When the news of the arrest was anirounced 
in the House of Commons, it was received with 
"howls, cheering, and signs of uproarious joy" 
by "the first assembly of gentlemen in the world." 
Then occurred, on February 3, the memorable 
scene of the expulsion of thirty-four Irish mem- 
bers for denouncing this infamous act of tyranny. 

In reply to Mr. Parnell, Sir William Vernon 
Harcourt, who signed the warrant of arrest, said 
that Mr. Davitt had been arrested in Consequence 
of having violated one of the conditions of his 
ticket-of-leave. 

Mr. Parnell. — What conditions? 

No reply being made, angry cries of "Answer, 
answer, answer I " came from the Irish benches. 
Mr. Gladstone then rose, and Mr. Dillon also 
stood np simultaneously, amid the most terrible 
din and cries of "Shame, shame !" 

Mr. Gladstone said, "I rise, sir, in conformity 
with the notice I gave yesterday." 

Mr. Dillon. — Mr. Speaker! Mr. Speaker I 



254 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

The Speaker. — The right honorable gentleman 
is in possession of the House. 

Mr. Dillon continued to stand with his arms 
folded. 

The Speaker. — I call u^wn the honorable mem- 
ber to resume his seat. 

Cries of " Name, name ! " 

Mr. Dillon continued to staud, the Irish mem- 
bers crying, " Point of order ! " Mr. Gladstone 
then moved that the honorable member be sus- 
pended during the remainder of this day's sitting. 
The Speaker then put the motion from the chair, 
amidst cries of "Privilege ! " and "Order ! " 

Mr. A. M. Sullivan.— Mr. Dillon rose to a 
point of order. I object to the division. 

The House then divided. For the suspension 
there were 395 ; against there were 33. Major- 
ity, 362. 

The Speaker. — Mr. Dillon will withdraw. 

Mr. Dillon.— I beg — 

The Speaker. — The honorable member must 
withdraw. 

Mr. Dillon. — I decline to withdraw. 

The Speaker directed the Sergeant-at-Arms to 
remove Mr. Dillon. 

Mr. A. M. Sullivan rose to a point of order, 
amid the greatest confusion, during which the 
Sergeant-at-Arms approached Mr. Dillon, accom- 
panied by five officers. 

Mr. Dillon. — You are not going to use force, 1 
hope. 



LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 255 

The honorable member then rose, and, amid 
cries of " Shame," left the house. 

And so the scene went on until the thirty-four 
were expelled. 

Great meetings were subsequently held all over 
Ireland, in England, and the United States, at 
which the arrest of Mr. Davitt was condemned 
as arbitrary and tyrannical ; and on Thursday, 
April 21, the voice of all Ireland declared, 
through eleven hundred delegates, assembled at 
the National Land League Convention held in 
the Round Room of the Rotunda, Dublin, that 
there could be no peace in Ireland while Mr. 
Davitt was a prisoner. 

This great assembly of the Irish Nation, com- 
prising delegates from all sections of the country, 
including Catholics, Protestants, and Orangemen, 
of all shades, was convened by the Irish national 
Land League, to express the opinion of the coun- 
try on the Land Bill introduced by Gladstone 
into the House of Commons, and to decide 
whether the bill should be opposed by the Irish 
members or allowed to go to a second reading. 
It was decided, after a two days' debate, to let it 
go to a reading, the parliamentary party endeav- 
oring to eliminate the objectionable clauses and 
introduce beneficial ones. The first act of the 
convention after organizing, however, was to 
pass the following resolution : — 



256 LIFE OF MICHAEL DAVITT. 

" Whereas, The recommittal to a British prison of 
Michael Davitt has been caused by his heroic defence, 
in a time of distress, of the landlord-persecuted ten- 
ant-farmers of Ireland, We, the delegates of those 
tenant-farmers, in convention assembled, do hereby 
declare it to be the duty of the Government to restore 
him to freedom, and thus remove from the breasts of 
Irishmen the irritation which his continued incarcera- 
tion will perpetuate and intensify." 

Mr. Thomas Brennan, in replying to the reso- 
lution, said : — 

" It is an act of public duty upon our part to show 
our deep sympathy with the suffering and our admira- 
tion of the brave soldier of liberty, the patriot of 
humanity, who inhabits a cell in Portland Prison to- 
day. It is well, too, I think, that from this convention 
there should go forth the declaration that there can be 
no peace in Ireland as long as Michael Davitt shall 
remain in prison ; and no matter what may be the 
merit of the bill which we are now about to consider, 
or any other bill which we may be called upon here- 
after to consider, there can be no message of peace as 
long as the man who was mainly instrumental in forc- 
ing such measures remains in the convict's cell." 

Mr. Brennan echoed the voice of Ireland, — ay, 
and of America, too. Theke can be no peace 
WITH England while Michael Davitt remains 

IN A convict's CELIi. 











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